Impact of rotavirus vaccination
In Europe, routine rotavirus vaccination of infants at the national level has been introduced with one or two vaccine brands in Finland, Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium within well-baby clinics or administered by general practitioners and paediatricians. When introducing a new vaccine, it is crucial to conduct studies evaluating the vaccination’s impact and effectiveness in order to decide on recommendations for its future use. To this end, ECDC has produced three generic protocols: a protocol for developing cohort studies to assess the effectiveness of the rotavirus vaccination in EU Members States; a protocol proposing prospective case control study designs to estimate rotavirus vaccine effectiveness; and a protocol for developing studies to assess the impact of rotavirus vaccination EU Member States.