Rotavirus vaccination

Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe, dehydrating diarrhea worldwide and is responsible for more than 600 000 child deaths every year. In June 2009, the World Health Organization recommended inclusion of rotavirus vaccination in all national immunization programs. This universal endorsement of rotavirus vaccination should help the world's poorest countries to provide rotavirus vaccine to the poorest children, in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goal #4 of decreasing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015. This review will focus on the nature and epidemiology of the virus and on the history of rotavirus vaccine, its availability and current recommendations about its administration.