@article{PrelogZlamyKofleretal.2013, author = {Prelog, Martina and Zlamy, Manuela and Kofler, Sabine and Orth, Dorothea and W{\"u}rzner, Reinhard and Heinz-Erian, Peter and Streng, Andrea}, title = {The impact of Rotavirus mass vaccination on hospitalization rates, nosocomial Rotavirus gastroenteritis and secondary blood stream infections}, series = {BMC Infectious Diseases}, journal = {BMC Infectious Diseases}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2334-13-112}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-96147}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Background The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of universal mass vaccination (UMV) against rotavirus (RV) on the hospitalization rates, nosocomial RV infections and RV-gastroenteritis (GE)-associated secondary blood stream infections (BSI). Methods The retrospective evaluation (2002-2009) by chart analysis included all clinically diagnosed and microbiologically confirmed RV-GE cases in a large tertiary care hospital in Austria. The pre-vaccination period (2002-2005) was compared with the recommended and early funded (2006-2007) and the funded (2008-2009) vaccination periods. Primary outcomes were RV-GE-associated hospitalizations, secondary outcomes nosocomial RV disease, secondary BSI and direct hospitalization costs for children and their accompanying persons. Results In 1,532 children with RV-GE, a significant reduction by 73.9\% of hospitalized RV-GE cases per year could be observed between the pre-vaccination and the funded vaccination period, which was most pronounced in the age groups 0-11 months (by 87.8\%), 6-10 years (by 84.2\%) and 11-18 years (88.9\%). In the funded vaccination period, a reduction by 71.9\% of nosocomial RV-GE cases per year was found compared to the pre-vaccination period. Fatalities due to nosocomial RV-GE were only observed in the pre-vaccination period (3 cases). Direct costs of hospitalized, community-acquired RV-GE cases per year were reduced by 72.7\% in the funded vaccination period. The reduction of direct costs for patients (by 86.9\%) and accompanying persons (86.2\%) was most pronounced in the age group 0-11 months. Conclusions UMV may have contributed to the significant decrease of RV-GE-associated hospitalizations, to a reduction in nosocomial RV infections and RV-associated morbidity due to secondary BSI and reduced direct hospitalization costs. The reduction in nosocomial cases is an important aspect considering severe disease courses in hospitalized patients with co-morbidities and death due to nosocomial RV-GE.}, language = {en} }