Introduction of an Oral Live Human Rotavirus (Rotarix) Vaccine in Matlab

The study will be conducted in the Matlab Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) field area of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) to determine the population effectiveness of Rotarix in Bangladeshi children. Villages in both intervention and government comparison areas will be included in this evaluation. We propose to introduce Rotarix into half of the villages of the Matlab HDSS. In villages randomized to receive the vaccine, all eligible children will be offered Rotarix during their first two Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) visits, as would routinely be done if Rotarix were included in the Government EPI schedule. In villages randomized not to receive Rotarix, children will receive their EPI vaccinations exactly as they would have in the absence of this study. Administration of Rotarix will be conducted by regular EPI staff, but ICDDR,B study staff will be present to document informed consent and collect study-specific information. The Ministry of Health will be an active partner in this evaluation since they will be the agency which may follow up with any subsequent vaccine programme. Vaccination with Rotarix will be recorded on the infant's immunization card which is normally used by the EPI programme, but also on a separate study-specific data collection form. Vaccination with Rotarix will continue from study initiation through June 30, 2011. Surveillance for rotavirus gastroenteritis will occur at Matlab Diarrhoeal Hospital and the community treatment centres of the Matlab HDSS continuously throughout the study period. Diarrheal illness information collected through surveillance will be linked to Rotarix study-specific data through the subject's HDSS identification numbers. The primary study endpoint will be the occurrence of an illness episode of acute diarrhoea, among infants and children admitted to a medical facility, determined to be caused by wild-type rotavirus found in a stool specimen.