Rotaviruses kill 2000 infants every day and RotaShield could cut deaths dramatically. But the issue puts leaders of less-developed nations in a precarious position. However, failing to improve matters for their people when a solution already exists, raises ethical questions. The WHO is keeping a watchful eye on the developments in the US and in Europe to determine how and when to make the vaccine available in the less-developed world. They concluded that it would be ethical to proceed with Rotashield trials in less-developed countries, and that inaction, while waiting for other new vaccines, is unacceptable since the disease burden in the interim cannot be ignored.
Time is of the essence.
The longer it takes to clarify this issue of the overall attributable risk of the vaccine, millions more children will die. Lorne Babiuk, who heads the university's Veterinary Infectious Diseases Organization, said he hoped the research could have implications for unborn babies at risk of contracting infections from their mothers. No one has immunized infants successfully yet and the sooner you can immunize them the easier it is to close the window of susceptibility to infection,'' he said. Infectious diseases are a leading cause of death among infants. World Health Organization figures from 1995 estimate about eight million infants died within the first year from these diseases, including five million in the first week of life.