Rotavirus Disease Burden in Africa and the Need to Accelerate Introduction of Vaccines

It is important to establish the burden of rotavirus disease before and after the introduction of a rotavirus vaccine. Regional effortshave focused on building an unequivocal evidence base for rotavirus diarrhoea to support decisionmaking and sustained investment in new vaccine introduction. WHO recommends routine use ofrotavirus vaccines in all countries; particularlyin those with high mortality attributable todiarrhoeal disease. In countries where diarrhoeal deaths account for more than 10 of mortality inchildren aged under five years; the introduction of the vaccine is strongly recommended. This article reviews the available literature and summarizesthe estimated number of deaths in children underfive years attributable to rotavirus diarrhoea in the WHO African Region. Based on the available data; it can be concluded that the rotavirus disease burden is very high and that the introduction of rotavirus vaccines should be accelerated in the Region

Surveillance for Diseases Targeted by new Vaccines: Progress; Challenges and Way Forward

Thirteen years ago; WHO-AFRO proposed the establishment of a sentinel disease surveillance network as part of efforts to improve surveillance for invasive bacterial diseases (IBD) including paediatric pneumonia and meningitis and rotavirus diarrhoea in all Member States as part of surveillance for vaccine-preventable diseases and in line with the regional strategy integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR). This was prompted by the eminent availability of new and prospective vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib); Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneum); Neisseria meningitides (Nm) and rotavirus vaccines. The Regional Office for Africa developed guidelines and tools and standardized methodology; including cases definitions to be used to recruit eligible cases. This article outlines the challenges and results of this initiative to date and aims for the future