Global Review of the Age Distribution of Rotavirus Disease in Children Aged < 5 Years Before the Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccination

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Mateusz Hasso-Agopsowicz, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Chandresh Nanji Ladva, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Benjamin Lopman, Emory University; Colin Sanderson, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Adam Cohen, Emory University; Jacqueline E. Tate, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Ximena Riveros, World Health Organization; Ana Maria Henao-Restrepo, World Health Organization; Andrew Clark, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-09-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciz060
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Clinical Infectious Diseases
• Volume: 69
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 1071
• End Page: 1078
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Grant Numbers OPP1147721 and OPP1163272. Support for this project was also provided by PATH, WHO and NIH (R01 AI112970).
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Microbiology; Science & Technology; rotavirus gastroenteritis; Infectious Diseases; vaccine; age distribution; DIARRHEA; INFECTION; Immunology; DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES; INFANTS; rotavirus
• Research Categories: Biology, Microbiology; Health Sciences, Immunology

Abstract

We sought datasets with granular age distributions of rotavirus-positive disease presentations among children <5 years of age, before the introduction of rotavirus vaccines. We identified 117 datasets and fit parametric age distributions to each country dataset and mortality stratum. We calculated the median age and the cumulative proportion of rotavirus gastroenteritis events expected to occur at ages between birth and 5.0 years. The median age of rotavirus-positive hospital admissions was 38 weeks (interquartile range [IQR], 25-58 weeks) in countries with very high child mortality and 65 weeks (IQR, 40-107 weeks) in countries with very low or low child mortality. In countries with very high child mortality, 69% of rotavirus-positive admissions in children <5 years of age were in the first year of life, with 3% by 10 weeks, 8% by 15 weeks, and 27% by 26 weeks. This information is critical for assessing the potential benefits of alternative rotavirus vaccination schedules in different countries and for monitoring program impact.