Rotavirus vaccine cuts deaths of Mexican babies from diarrhoea by 40%

The worldwide campaign to introduce the rotavirus vaccine has been given an important boost with the publication of two papers, one showing a drop in deaths from diarrhoeal disease in Mexico after the vaccine was introduced and the other proving its effectiveness among babies in Africa.

The findings from the two studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, informed the World Health Organization’s recent recommendation that rotavirus vaccine be included in every nation’s vaccination programme.

In an editorial accompanying the papers, Mathuram Santosham, professor of international health …