Rotavirus vaccine to be offered to all babies

The vaccination programme will see children under four months given an oral vaccine in two separate doses along with their other routine vaccines from September 2013.

According to the Department of Health, rotavirus causes around 140,000 diarrhoea cases a year in the under-fives and leads to hospital stays for nearly one in ten. The oral vaccine is expected to halve the number of cases and lead to 70 per cent fewer hospital stays.

Rotavirus vaccines, including the Rotarix vaccine which will be used in the UK, are already used to routinely vaccinate children in many countries including the United States.

The decision to immunise children in the UK comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation concluded that the health benefit of vaccination is a cost-effective way of protecting children against rotavirus.

The NHS Commissioning Board, launching in April 2013, will be responsible for delivering the rotavirus vaccination programme.

Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said, ‘Rotavirus spreads very easily and affects around 140,000 children every year, causing distress for them and their families.

‘Many people think of diarrhoea as something that all children get and that you have to put up with. But there is a way to protect children from this.’

He added, ‘I’d encourage all parents of young children to accept this vaccine when the programme begins next year.’