A Cochrane review (abstract , review ) included 43 studies with a total of 190 551 subjects. The review was limited to the vaccines approved for use and it evaluated three vaccines compared to placebo: a monovalent rotavirus vaccine RV1; Rotarix® (31 studies) and a pentavalent rotavirus vaccine RV5; RotaTeq® (12 studies), which are used in many countries; and Lanzhou Lamb Rotavirus vaccine (LLR), which is used in China only. None of the identified studies used LLR.
In children aged less than one year, both vaccines were effective at reducing all cases of rotavirus diarrhoea (RV1, RR 0.30, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.50; 7 studies, n=12 130; RV5, RR 0.27, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.33; 4 studies, n=7 614). They also decreased severe cases (RV1, RR 0.20, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.35, 7 studies, n=35 004; RV5, RR 0.23, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.71; 3 studies, n=6 953).
During the second year of life, they prevented all cases of rotavirus diarrhoea (RV1, RR 0.30, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.43; 6 studies, n=8 041; RV5, RR 0.51, 95% CI 0.36 to 0.72; 4 studies, n=9 784), and severe rotavirus diarrhoea cases (RV1, RR 0.16, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.21; 8 studies, n=32 854; RV5, RR 0.44, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.88; 4 studies, n=9 783).
No increased risk of intussusception was detected. Reported serious adverse events (including intussusception) after vaccination were measured in 95 178 children for RV1 and 77 480 for RV5, with no difference between the vaccines.