Background: In March 2006, rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix, RV1) was introduced into the Panamanian national immunization program. We assessed the effect of vaccine on diarrhea-associated hospitalizations among young Panamanian children.
Methods: We obtained monthly numbers of diarrhea-associated hospitalizations among children aged ≤ 5 years during 2003 and 2008 from 5 health regions in Panama, representing 53% of the birth cohort. We compared the number of diarrhea-associated hospitalizations during the postvaccine years of 2007 and 2008 with the prevaccine mean numbers 2003-2005 among children < 1 year and those 1 to 4 years of age. Administrative data were used to estimate national rotavirus vaccine coverage.
Results: During prevaccine years, diarrhea-associated hospitalizations among children < 5 years in the 5 regions averaged 4057 annually. After the vaccine introduction, a decrease in diarrhea-associated hospitalizations of 22% (898 fewer) occurred in 2007 and 37% (1502 fewer) in 2008. Greater reductions were observed during January through June, the months presumed to have high rotavirus activity in prevaccine years (33% reduction in 2007 and 58% in 2008, compared with prevaccine mean). Reduction estimates were similar among infants and those aged 1-4 years of age, even though only 25% of the latter group was likely to have received vaccine by early 2008. Estimated coverage with ≥ 1 dose of rotavirus vaccine among infants increased from 63% at the end of 2006 to 94% at the end of 2008.
Conclusions: RV1 appears to have had a substantial impact on diarrhea-associated hospitalizations among young children in Panama.