RotaTeq is the brand name of the new rotavirus vaccine manufactured by Merck. A meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (the federal panel that sets vaccination policy in the
This means that it is mandatory for every healthy newborn in the United States to receive this new vaccine designed to protect against an intestinal germ called rotavirus and that pediatricians are more likely to recommend three doses of the oral vaccine for nearly every child at age 2 months, 4 months and 6 months, beginning almost immediately.
Merck has tested the vaccine in about 70,000 babies in 11 countries, one of the biggest vaccine trials ever conducted. That test ruled out a safety problem similar to the one that felled RotaShield, an earlier rotavirus vaccine developed by Wyeth, a drugmaker in
Madison, N.J. But doctors said it is impossible to design a test big enough to catch all possible side effects that might show up once the product is used in millions of children.
Rotavirus is not well-known to most people but is one of the most common causes of childhood illness (most ailments that parents or pediatricians describe as "stomach flu" are caused by rotavirus infection), at least 55,000 children in the
Merck listed RotaTeq at $187.50 wholesale for the three-dose series, making it one of the most expensive vaccines ever marketed. Consequently, doctors are likely to charge more than $300 retail. The development of such a vaccine is providing hope for both parents and doctors, not to mention relief for affected patients but it sure also is causing strains, particularly in state-sponsored vaccination programs for certain low-income children.
Read more at the Washington Post.
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