Agreement signed to monitor rotavirus in Honduras

Tegucigalpa, Honduras, October 8, 2004 (PAHO)—The Ministry of Health of Honduras and a Support Group for the Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccine have signed an agreement to compile data and evaluate the possibility of using new vaccines against rotavirus in that country.

Rotavirus, which kills half a million children each year worldwide, is the most common cause of severe diarrhea, hospitalizations, and deaths among children. It affects both rich and poor kids under five years of age, causing 440,000 deaths around the world, with more than 80 percent occurring in developing countries.

Dr. Jon K. Andrus, who heads PAHO’s immunization efforts, including the introduction of new vaccines into the Expanded Program on Immunization, said that there were 15,282 deaths from Rotavirus in Latin America and 75,000 children were hospitalized every year. Rotavirus is a high priority for developing countries with limited health services, where almost all of the deaths occur, most from severe dehydration, he said.

Though no vaccine against rotavirus is currently on the market, two vaccines are in development, and are expected to be on the market soon. The two vaccines currently in the final phase of clinical trials, each with more than 60,000 children, are being developed by GlaxoSmithKline and the other one by Merck.

To advance on data collection and investigate the possibility of introducing a vaccine if the numbers justify it, the Ministry of Health designed a special strategic plan. In Honduras, as in the rest of Latin America, diarrheal diseases are among the leading causes of death and disease in boys and girls under 5 years old. But available data on epidemiology of diarrheal diseases due to rotavirus in that country are still limited, and officials do not know the exact burden of this disease for the health services.

Under the new agreement signed yesterday by the Ministry of Health and the Support Group, participants will start sentinel hospital surveillance of gastroenteritis by rotavirus in boys and girls under 5 who are hospitalized, according to the protocol established by the World Health Organization for surveillance of this disease.

This new stage in the fight against rotavirus will be carried out with the assistance of the Support Group for Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccine, composed of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, (PAHO/WHO) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), the Sabin Vaccine Institute, and USAID Honduras.

The two entities will also partner to mobilize national and external resources to implement the first stage of the strategic plan introduction of the vaccine.

PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. PAHO works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of people of the Americas. It serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO). PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States. Portugal and Spain are Observer States, and Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.