M. Dinesh Varma Findings may help to include it in immunisation drive across the world Rotavirus common cause of severe diarrhoea Nearly 6 lakh die worldwide every year CHENNAI: The soon-to-be-released findings of a final-phase efficacy study on a vaccine against rotavirus, one of the commonest causes of enteric infection in children, could pave the way for its inclusion in immunisation programmes worldwide, paediatric infectious disease expert Miguel Luis O'Ryan said on Thursday. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is keenly awaiting the results of the vaccine efficacy studies concentrated on malnourished children at Malawa in South Africa and Panama in Central America. Positive signs from these studies could hasten the WHO's plans to recommend the human rotavirus vaccine as a safe and effective intervention to immunise children worldwide, the expert said. "The interim data of these studies are highly promising and indicate an efficacy level of about 80 per cent,' Dr. O'Ryan told The Hindu in Chennai en route to Kuala Lumpur, which is hosting the International Conference on Infectious Diseases. Dr. O'Ryan, who is professor and director of the Microbiology and Mycology programme at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Chile, led the Latin American component of the multinational vaccine trials involving nearly 63,000 children that helped develop the human rotavirus vaccine. Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe dehydrating diarrhoea in infants and children, and leaves a toll of over 6 lakh deaths across the world every year. Highly contagious, it has been dubbed "democratic disease' for its penchant for transmitting the infection across socio-economic strata and geographies. It is surmised that virtually all children in the world would have been infected by rotavirus by the time they reach 5 years of age. At least 96 per cent are infected before they celebrate their second birthday. Most episodes, typified by the triad of intense vomiting, dehydration and fever, occur between 3 months and 2 years with a peak incidence between 6 and 11 months. In India, studies have held rotavirus responsible for over 5 lakh hospitalisations and almost 1.50 lakh deaths annually in children below five years of age. The high death toll associated with rotavirus have to do with bouts of intense vomiting that somewhat neutralise oral rehydration efforts and leads to dehydration shock. Unlike other typical gastroenteric viruses, rotavirus is spread more from person-to-person than as food or water mediated transmission, said Dr. O'Ryan. The two vaccine versions available now