Why the study?
Widely used rotavirus vaccines show lower effectiveness in low- and middle-income countries due to malnutrition and poor sanitation, alongside challenges of complex schedules and high production costs.
This review highlights the ongoing development of novel rotavirus vaccines to address the challenges of efficacy, stability, and cost in low- and middle-income countries.
May support novel rotavirus strategies in LMICs; leaves open need for confirmatory randomized trials.
Rotavirus is a major cause of severe diarrhea and mortality in children under five years of age, leading to approximately 128,500 deaths annually.1–3 Vaccination is the most effective strategy for preventing rotavirus infection. While two widely used vaccines, Rotarix and RotaTeq, have shown good efficacy in high-income countries, their effectiveness is lower in low- and middle-income countries due to factors such as malnutrition and poor sanitation.4–6 These challenges include complex vaccination schedules and high production costs. Researchers are working on novel vaccines, including inactivated virus and viral protein-based options, as well as virus-like particles and recombinant proteins.7–9 Improving vaccine stability and applicability is crucial for resource-limited settings, and global vaccination strategies are expected to significantly reduce infection burdens, improve child health, and contribute to the achievement of global health goals.10–14
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Lin et al. (2025) studied this question.
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