Paediatrician backs child rotavirus vaccine
Kevin Connolly, chairman of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, said every child in Ireland would have at least one rotavirus infection by age five.
Dr Connolly, a retired paediatrician, said most children who had a rotavirus infection last year were under one year old.
“Some children who develop severe vomiting and diarrhoea need to be admitted to hospital for extra fluids to be given, either through the vein or in a tube into their stomach,” said Dr Connolly.
He said the vaccine, which was given orally, had been proven to be very safe and children who received it were less likely to become seriously ill.
“The vaccine has been in use for a number of years, particularly in the US and it has been shown to be a very effective vaccine. It reduces the virus infection by about 85%,” he said.
The committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland that provides guidance to the chief medical officer in the Department of Health also recommended pregnant woman should be vaccinated against the whooping cough at 27-36 weeks.
Those most vulnerable to whooping cough are babies under six months of age who have not been fully vaccinated against it.
Dr Connolly said they were recommending that pregnant women be vaccinated against whooping cough so the mother’s antibodies will be passed on to her unborn baby so it would be protected in the months after birth.
Another recommendation from the committee is that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine should be considered for men who have sex with men and to those who are HIV positive or who had a bone-marrow transplant.
Dr Connolly said it had been shown that the HPV virus, a sexually transmitted infection, was not only associated with cervical cancer but also with vaginal cancer, anal warts, anal cancer, and some mouth and throat cancers.
He said the MenB vaccine would be considered by the committee at its next meeting in January and it would make its recommendation next year.
Ireland has one of the highest incidents of MenB. The vaccine was licensed this year but no other country has introduced it.
Dr Connolly said it was quite an expensive vaccine and the committee was considering a health technology assessment that it received a few weeks ago.
The committee had to consider whether the MenB vaccine could be safely given with the other vaccines and whether parents would be put off by the introduction of another vaccine in the immunisation schedule for their children.
“It is one of the more difficult decisions we have been faced with,” he said.
He pointed out that, up to now, any recommendation made by the committee had been accepted by the chief medical officer.
