Evaluation of Rhesus Rotavirus Vaccine (MMU 18006) in Infants and Young Children

Orally administered rhesus rotavirus vaccine was evaluated in a placebo-controlled study in young children and infants (ages, eight months to 61 months). Thirteen children received the rotavirus vaccine, and ten children served as the control group. The vaccine was well tolerated. There were no significant differences between the vaccine recipients and the control group in the number of child-days with temperatures ⩾37.8 C, vomiting, diarrhea, or cough. There were significantly more child-days of rhinorrhea among the vaccine recipients than there were among the control group. The vaccine recipients under two years of age passed a larger number of stools than did the children in the control group, and vaccine recipients had significantly more semiformed and unformed stools than did the children receiving the placebo. All twelve of the children tested were positive for viral shedding. Peak viral shedding occurred on days three and five postvaccination. On day eight, over one-half of the children from whom a stool specimen was obtained were still shedding rotavirus. Children less than two years old shed more rotavirus in their stool than did children more than two years old. All 13 vaccine recipients had a fourfold or greater rise in titer of antibody as measured by plaque reduction, tube neutralization, complement fixation, and/or immune adherence hemagglutination.