Vaccines For Vexing Viruses

Vaccines in the news today out of the American Society for Microbiology and the Infectious Disease Society of America meeting in Washington, D.C.:

A WebMD article (http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/news/20081027/rotavirus-vaccine-a-success-story?src=RSS_PUBLIC) highlighted the rotavirus vaccine...

• Rotavirus is the leading cause of hospitalization and death from a diarrheal illness in babies and young children: 400,000 doctor visits, 200,000 ER visits, 70,000 hospital admissions, 60 deaths per year.
• The 2-year-old vaccine's success was discussed at the meeting.
• Company-funded case-control study: 33,000 babies who got the vaccine, 28,000 who did not. The infants in the vaccinated group had no hospital or emergency room visits, and health care costs were lower by $12,000 per infant per year.
• The vaccine is given at 2, 4, and 6 months.
• Intussusception, where the intestine folds in on itself like a telescope, was a rare complication with an older version of the vaccine, and less so with newer versions.
• The CDC reports an 80% drop in confirmed rotavirus cases in 2007-2008 compared to the previous two years.
• Hospitals across the country report dramatically fewer admissions for rotavirus.

A HealthDay article (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_70863.html) describes how flu shots for the family protect newborns...

• Researchers at Duke Children's Hospital recommend that new moms and their immediate family get flu shots before their newborns leave the hospital.
• Immunizing new fathers and siblings is especially effective.
• Newborns are too young to get flu shots, but they are at high risk for hospitalization if they get the flu. Babies can get the flu from exposure to family members with the flu -- so preventing the flu in the family can protect the baby.
• An education campaign at Durham Regional Hospital resulted in more people getting vaccinated.

I think I had rotavirus during my pediatrics rotation in medical school. It's very contagious, it is miserable, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. How wonderful there's such an effective vaccine against this scourge.

Both of these vaccine hit close to home, with my own experience of parenthood fast approaching. I want to protect my baby against everything preventable. It reminds me, I need to get my flu shot now.

My husband, an infectious disease specialist, sometimes attends this annual meeting at which these vaccines were discussed. And sometimes I'll go with him. A few years ago, I actually reported from this meeting in San Francisco about acinetobacter infections in soldiers returning from Iraq.

In general, news consumers should be careful about findings announced at conferences. Often the studies have not yet been published, i.e. peer-reviewed. Researchers can "try out" their work at the meeting and see what kind of reception they get. A lot of times, the research never gets published, indicating some sort of inherent flaw. But that part never gets covered by the press.

So how does this happen? The meeting organizers often come up with attention-getting topics to offer the mass media. The work gets attention, the meeting gets attention, and the media get attention, and everyone involved goes away getting something they need...at least, for the moment.

What's really needed is some follow-up.