POST 01152E : REVISED WHO POSITION PAPER ON ROTAVIRUS VACCINES

POST 01152E : REVISED WHO POSITION PAPER ON ROTAVIRUS VACCINES 2 September 2007 _____________________________ Please note that a revised WHO position paper on rotavirus vaccines has just been published in the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record. The paper is available in English and French. It will shortly be translated into Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. The paper is available in English and French. It will shortly be translated into Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. Background information on the position paper In 1999 a highly efficacious rotavirus vaccine, RotaShield®, licenced in the United States, was withdrawn from the market after less than one year because of its association with intussusception. Two new live, oral, attenuated rotavirus vaccines were licensed in 2006, the monovalent human rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix®) and the pentavalent bovine-human, reassortant vaccine (RotaTeq®). Both vaccines have demonstrated very good safety and efficacy profiles in large clinical trials in western industrialized countries as well as in some parts of Latin America. Careful surveillance has not revealed any increased risk of intussusception in the vaccinated groups with either vaccine. The new rotavirus vaccines have now been introduced for routine use in a number of industrialized and developing countries. This position paper builds on the recommendations provided by WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) at its meeting in November 2006 and replaces the WHO Position Paper on rotavirus vaccines published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record 1999, 74, 33-40, and Rotavirus vaccines, an update 2003, 78, 1-8 Further information on WHO position papers on vaccines All WHO position papers on vaccines are reviewed by a number of experts within and outside WHO and, since April 2006, are reviewed and endorsed by the WHO immunization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts Further information on WHO position papers on vaccines, together with the full list of existing papers, can be found on WHO's immunization web site. Kind regards. Mrs Alison Brunier, MBA Communications Officer Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals World Health Organization ______________________________________________________________________________ All members of the TechNet21 e-Forum are invited to send comments on any posting or to use the forum to raise a new discussion or request technical information in relation to immunization services. The comments made in this forum are the sole responsibility of the writers and do not in any way mean that they are endorsed by any of the organizations and agencies to which the authors may belong. ______________________________________________________________________________ Visit the TECHNET21 Website at http://www.technet21.org You will find instructions to subscribe, a direct access to archives, links to reference documents and other features. ______________________________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to : [[email protected]][email protected][/email] Leave the subject area BLANK In the message body, write unsubscribe TECHNET21E ______________________________________________________________________________ The World Health Organization and UNICEF support TechNet21. The TechNet21 e-Forum is a communication/information tool for generation of ideas on how to improve immunization services. It is moderated by Claude Letarte and is hosted in cooperation with the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement, Québec, Canada (www.ccisd.org ___________________________________________________________________________