Re: FW: ROTAVIRUS VACCINE WILL BE A HARD SELL

[Guest guest]

At 10:41 AM 9/21/98 -0600, you wrote:

>From: Mom2Q <mom2q@...>

> It'S Going To Be Tough To Convince Parents And

Physicians Of The Need To Routinely Immunize Infants With The New

Rotavirus Vaccine,>

>

Good to hear!!!LOL

I can understand the concern of Rotavirus--being that it affects many, many

children. BUT! if you are breastfeeding your child and he contracts the

virus, there is nothing really to worry bout. After a little diarrhea

(which I'm sure we ALL have lived through) they will gain life-long

immunity...rather than this Rotasheild that only claims to be 80% effective

and 'pretty safe'. This is how I see it.....out of 10 kids who are

immunized w/ rotashield-only 8 of them will gain temporary immunity and 3

of them will have reactions....so only half of them actually benefit from

this vaccine......I rather take my chances

Lana

>

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>Acceptance Of Rotavirus Vaccine Called Hard Sell

>Barbara Baker, San Francisco Bureau

>Pediatric News 32(8):22, 1998. © 1998 International Medical News Group

>

>RAPID CITY, S.D. -- It'S Going To Be Tough To Convince Parents And

>Physicians Of The Need To Routinely Immunize Infants With The New

>Rotavirus Vaccine, Dr. Larry K. Pickering Predicted At A Meeting On

>Clinical Pediatrics Sponsored By The University Of South Dakota. An Oral

>Live Tetravalent Rotavirus Vaccine, To Be Given At 2, 4, And 6 Months Of

>Age, Is Pending Licensure By The Food And Drug Administration. If And

>When The Vaccine Is Approved, One Of The Difficult Tasks Will Be To

>Educate Parents, As Well As Physicians Who Don'T Have Hospital-Based

>Pediatric Practices, That Rotavirus Infection Can Be A Serious Disease,

>Said Dr. Pickering, A Member Of The American Academy Of Pediatrics' Red

>Book Committee. The AAP Has Not Yet Issued A Statement On The Vaccine,

>And He Stressed That He Was Giving His Personal Views.

>

>Rotavirus Infection Accounts For About 50% Of Hospitalizations Caused By

>Gastroenteritis In The United States. It Results In 50,000

>Hospitalizations And 20-40 Deaths Annually. The Highest Incidence Of

>Severe Infection Occurs At 3-24 Months Of Age, But Rotavirus Also Causes

>Significant Illness In Infants 24-36 Months Of Age. Another Sticking

>Point In Getting The Vaccine To Be Widely Accepted Is That It'S Only

>About 50% Effective In Preventing Diarrhea Caused By Rotavirus

>Infection, According To The Five Published Placebo-Controlled Trials.

>However, It Needs To Be Emphasized That The Vaccine Was About 80%

>Effective In Preventing Severe Rotavirus-Induced Diarrhea In The Three

>U.S. Trials,

>Said Dr. Pickering, Professor Of Pediatrics At Eastern Virginia Medical

>School, Norfolk.

>Although Most Of The Studies Looked Only At 1-Year Efficacy Rates, It'S

>A Live Vaccine " And There'S No Reason To Think It Won'T Give

>Long-Lasting Protection, Similar To A Natural Rotavirus Infection, " He

>Added. Parents Will Need To Be Counseled That Perhaps Only Half Of The

>Average Eight Episodes Of Diarrhea That A Child Has During The First Few

>Years Of Life Are Caused By Rotavirus Infection.

>

> " We Will Need To Educate Parents That This Isn'T A Diarrheal Vaccine;

>It'S A Rotavirus Vaccine. Their Children Will Still Get Diarrhea. But

>The Other Causes Don'T Result In As Severe Diarrhea As Rotavirus. The

>Vaccine Will Keep Kids Out Of The Hospital, " Dr. Pickering Said. Parents

>And Physicians Can Be Reassured That The Vaccine Is " Pretty Safe, " He

>Added. The Only Real Side Effect, Which Occurs Within 5-6 Days Of

>Vaccine Administration, Is Fever. It Develops Only After The First Of

>The Three Doses And Is Generally Between 38? And 39?C. In The U.S.

>Trials, 7%-14% Of Infants Developed Fever After The First Dose Of The

>Vaccine, Compared With 4%-7% Of Those Given Placebo.

>

>The Older The Infants Were When They Received Their First Dose, The More

>Likely They Were To Develop Fever. Dr. Pickering Predicted That If And

>When The Vaccine Is Approved, The Package Insert Will Strongly Recommend

>That The First Dose Be Administered Before 6 Months Of Age, In Part For

>This Reason. Vaccine Administration Has Not Been Associated With An

>Increased Risk Of Diarrhea Or Vomiting. Dr. Pickering Noted That A Key

>Factor In The Acceptance Of The Vaccine Will Be Cost, Which Has Not Yet

>Been Disclosed By The Manufacturer, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories. If

>Approved, The Vaccine Will Be Marketed As RotaShield.

>

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