The rotavirus vaccine now available to children is helping to significantly reduce cases of the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC report, published in the MMWR, indicates before the vaccine, rotavirus was responsible for 20 to 60 deaths, and hundreds of thousands of emergency room visits in the U.S. every year. Rotavirus is marked by severe diarrhea in children less than five years old, and usually strikes in the winter and spring months.
Researchers say vaccination started in 2006. One year later, cases dropped 64-percent. From 2008 to 2009 cases went up slightly, but overall, were still much lower than before the vaccine was recommended. The study also found the rotavirus season was shorter after the vaccine was introduced.
Experts believe babies who were not vaccinated are also seeing some protection, as the drop in cases outnumbers the children who got the vaccine.
