Vaccines Work – Again

Once again, there is another study demonstrating the effectiveness of vaccines. This one comes from Lothian, Scotland, looking at the effectiveness of the rotavirus vaccine. 

The rotavirus vaccine was added to the UK vaccination schedule in July of 2013. This study looked at the rate of rotavirus gastroenteritis, admissions due to rotavirus, and the complication rate of hospitalized children one year before the vaccine was added to the schedule and two years after its introduction.

In the first two years of the vaccine’s use, nearly 94% of eligible children were vaccinated. In the two years following the vaccine’s introduction, the hospitalization rate due to rotavirus fell 85%, the length of hospital stays decreased by 91%, and the rate of hospital-acquired infections