Admission Due to Acute Gastroenteritis and Rotavirus Gastroenteritis Before and after the Introduction of the Rotavirus Vaccine Into the National Immunization Program in Central Israel

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the impact of insertion of the Rotavirus vaccine (RVV) into the Israeli national immunization program (NIP) on hospitalizations due to both community acquired acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and Rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE( in children < 5 years of age

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of all children aged

Results: During the study period 2042 children were admitted with AGE. The proportion of hospitalizations due to AGE decreased from 3310 to 1950 per 100 000 hospitalizations after the RVV, which was a 41% reduction between the 2 periods (p < 0.001). The proportion of hospitalizations due to RVGE decreased from 1027 to 585 per 100,000, which was a 43% reduction between the 2 periods. (p < 0.001) . RV was the most common pathogen in all age groups in both study periods. There was no significant change in prevalence of the other pathogens between the periods except salmonella which increased from 27 to 36 per 100,000 hospitalizations in the post vaccine period (25 % increase, p < 0.041). There was no significant difference between the immunized and non immunized children with RVGE in the clinical course during admission and the length of admission.

Conclusions: We demonstrated a significant reduction in admission rates due to both AGE and RVGE in children < 5 years of age after the introduction of the RVV to the NIP in Israel. However, admissions due to RVGE still happen in RV-vaccinated and non-vaccinated children and it is still the most common agent causing admissions due to AGE in children