Provisional rotavirus recommendations expected within a month

This afternoon, the National Immunization Program hosted a live netconference titled "Current Issues in Immunization". Among the topics covered in the one-hour session were revisions to the General Recommendations on Immunization, the document updated every few years that provides general guidance of immunization practices in the U.S. The revisions, addressing particulars of simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines and the impact of altered immunocompetence on vaccination recommendations, were discussed in detail at the February ACIP meeting.

Also presented was an update on the recently licensed and recommended rotavirus vaccine, Merck's RotaTeq. CDC's Dr. Umesh Parashar gave an overview of rotavirus epidemiology worldwide and in the U.S., contrasted RotaTeq with RotaShield (Wyeth's failed vaccine of 1998-99), and offered an update on the current status of the ACIP recommendation approved in February that all infants receive the vaccine at 2, 4, and 6 months.

According to Dr. Parashar, the ACIP recommendation is currently undergoing final clearance from the CDC and HHS. These required approvals are expected within the next month, at which point provisional recommendations will be posted online here. Recommendations do not become official until printed in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a step expected to occur sometime in fall 2006.

Still, federal government vaccination recommendations remain only recommendations unless individual states act to require the vaccine as a condition of school or day care attendance. These mandates are widely expected for RotaTeq, but require actions by state departments of health or (in some cases) legislatures. Mandates for rotavirus vaccination are not expected to be nearly as contentious as those for HPV vaccines in the months and years ahead.