Vaccination against rotavirus

Rotavirus infections cause thousands of hospitalisations a year amongst young children. Vaccination can prevent a large part of these, as well as almost completely banishing mortality from rotavirus. These benefits outweigh the small risk of a serious complication from vaccination, according to the Health Council. Therefore, its advice is to vaccinate children against rotavirus. Children who are premature, have a low birth weight, or have a congenital disorder should be vaccinated in any case. For these children, the consequences of rotavirus infection are most severe. The council would also welcome universal vaccination: this would lead to more health benefits, but is not cost-effective at the current vaccine prices.