Rotavirus vaccination in Central American children

Abstract

Rotavirus is the leading cause of acute diarrhea in children younger than five years of age around the world. Severe dehydration and mortality rates are higher in developing countries, especially those from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The vaccine has been introduced in the national immunization programs of more than half of Latin American countries, and impact data from some of these nations has been already published. The two rotavirus vaccines, the 2-dose monovalent (RV-1) and the 3-dose pentavalent (RV-5) vaccine, have been available in the market to all Central American countries. Rotavirus vaccine has been universally introduced in the expanded immunization national programs of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama, but not in Belize and Costa Rica. This review summarizes what has been published about the epidemiology and impact of universal rotavirus vaccination in Central America.

Keywords: Central America; Latin America; children; developing countries; rotavirus; vaccination; vaccine introduction; vaccine preventable diseases.