South African Medical Research Council, 1 Soutpansberg Road, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; Diarrhoeal Pathogens Research Unit, Department of Virology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Medunsa 0204, Pretoria, South Africa.
South African Medical Research Council/Wits Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Vaccine. 2021 Apr 22;39(17):2319-2324. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.03.014. Epub 2021 Mar 26.
The African Rotavirus Network organised the 12 African Rotavirus Symposium (ARS) from 30 July to 1 August 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The symposium theme "A decade of rotavirus vaccination in Africa - Saving lives and changing the face of diarrhoeal diseases", included sessions aimed at sharing ideas and expertise on prevention and control of diarrhoeal disease in Africa. Inter alia, the delegates reviewed global and regional epidemiological trends on rotavirus diarrhoea, progress and experiences on rotavirus vaccine introduction, including vaccine safety monitoring and impact in Africa, scientific advances in developing newer rotavirus vaccines, surveillance and research on other diarrhoeal pathogens, and providing an enabling environment for networking. Importantly, the 12 ARS served to commemorate the 20 anniversary of the African Rotavirus Network (AfrRN) coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the South African Medical Research Council. Four oral, live-attenuated rotavirus vaccines are currently prequalified by the WHO (Rotarix, RotaTeq, Rotavac and RotaSiil). African countries utilising rotavirus vaccines in routine national immunisation programmes are realising their effectiveness and impact on diarrhoeal disease morbidity. An ~40% reduction in hospitalisations of <5-year-olds with acute gastroenteritis following rotavirus vaccine introduction, was reported between 2006 and 2018 in 92,000 children from the WHO-coordinated African Rotavirus Surveillance Network (AfrRSN) comprising 33 Member States. This was corroborated by a meta-analysis of published data, sourced from January 2000 to August 2018 that reported substantial reductions in rotavirus hospitalisations in countries using rotavirus vaccines. However, it was highlighted that the transition of some countries from Gavi-eligibility and vaccine supply shortfalls present significant challenges to achieving the full impact of rotavirus immunization in Africa. The wide diversity of rotavirus genotypes continues in Africa, with variation observed both geographically and temporally. There is currently no evidence to suggest that the emergence of rotavirus strains not included in the current vaccines do escape vaccine-induced immunity.
非洲轮状病毒网络于 2019 年 7 月 30 日至 8 月 1 日在南非约翰内斯堡举办了第十二届非洲轮状病毒研讨会（ARS）。研讨会的主题是“非洲轮状病毒疫苗接种十年——拯救生命，改变腹泻病面貌”，会议内容包括分享非洲腹泻病预防和控制方面的想法和专业知识。与会者审查了全球和区域轮状病毒腹泻病的流行病学趋势、轮状病毒疫苗引入方面的进展和经验，包括疫苗安全性监测和在非洲的影响、开发新型轮状病毒疫苗的科学进展、其他腹泻病原体的监测和研究，以及为建立网络提供有利环境。重要的是，第十二届 ARS 会议恰逢非洲轮状病毒网络成立 20 周年和南非医学研究理事会成立 50 周年之际举行。目前，世卫组织有四种口服减毒轮状病毒疫苗获得资格预审（Rotarix、RotaTeq、Rotavac 和 RotaSiil）。利用轮状病毒疫苗纳入常规国家免疫规划的非洲国家正在认识到它们在腹泻病发病率方面的有效性和影响。在 2006 年至 2018 年期间，世卫组织协调的非洲轮状病毒监测网络（AfrRSN）的 33 个成员国报告了 92000 名 5 岁以下儿童的急性肠胃炎住院率下降了约 40%。这一结果得到了对 2000 年 1 月至 2018 年 8 月期间发表数据的荟萃分析的证实，该分析报告了使用轮状病毒疫苗的国家轮状病毒住院率大幅下降。然而，有人强调，一些国家从获得全球疫苗免疫联盟的资格转变以及疫苗供应短缺，对在非洲充分实现轮状病毒免疫接种的影响构成了重大挑战。非洲的轮状病毒基因型继续呈现广泛的多样性，在地理和时间上都存在差异。目前没有证据表明，目前疫苗中未包含的轮状病毒株的出现会逃避疫苗诱导的免疫。
