Vaccination against rotavirus helped the United States save more than $1 billion in direct medical costs from 2008 to 2013, according to a study published in Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
Researchers examined data from community and academic hospitals in 26 states, identifying hospitalizations for acute gastroenteritis among children under 5 years old. They studied the periods before and after vaccination licensure, which occurred in 2006.
Here are three study insights:
1. Diarrhea hospitalizations decreased by between 31 percent and 55 percent from 2008 to 2013.
2. Over the six-year period, U.S. children avoided more than 380,000 hospitalizations for severe diarrhea.
3. The country saw direct medical cost savings from avoided hospitalizations to the tune of $1.2 billion nationwide. This estimate did not take into account cost savings related to other avoided care activities, such as emergency room visits for rotavirus.