Magesa Emmanuel, Sankombo Marian, Nakakuwa Fillipine
Welwitchia University, Windhoek.
School of Public Health, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.
J Public Health Afr. 2021 Jun 18;12(1):1680. doi: 10.4081/jphia.2021.1680.
Diarrheal diseases due to rotavirus infection contribute greatly to morbidity and mortality rates of babies and young children in many developing countries. This public health concern can effectively be reduced by the use of the rotavirus vaccine, though there is an anecdotal evidence indicating that despite introduction of the vaccine the number of cases of diarrhoea diseases are still high in Namibia, particularly in Kavango east and west regions.
This study evaluated the effectiveness of the rotavirus vaccine in preventing diarrhoea cases among children under age five years in Kavango regions.
The study employed a quasiexperimental design comparing diarrhoea cases before (2010-2013) and after (2014-2017) introduction of the rotavirus vaccine among children under age five years. Data were extracted from District Health Information System version 2 and analysed by using one way analysis of covariance.
Before introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, there were 14 500 diarrhoea cases, which is 1.6% rate of infection. After introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, there were 14 400 diarrhoea cases, which is 1.58% rate of infection. This is supported by the effect size (partial eta) of 0.01%, which is very small. The trend of diarrhoea cases after rotavirus vaccine introduction fluctuated with no major decline of diarrhoea cases.
The study concluded that rotavirus vaccine is less effective in preventing diarrhoea diseases among children under age five years in the Kavango regions. Further research is needed to substantiate these findings as other factors can contribute to fluctuation of diarrhoea cases.
在许多发展中国家，轮状病毒感染引起的腹泻疾病对婴幼儿的发病率和死亡率有很大影响。尽管有传闻证据表明，尽管引入了疫苗，但纳米比亚腹泻疾病的病例数仍然很高，特别是在卡万戈东部和西部地区，但使用轮状病毒疫苗可以有效降低这一公共卫生问题。
本研究评估了轮状病毒疫苗在预防卡万戈地区5岁以下儿童腹泻病例方面的有效性。
该研究采用了准实验设计，比较了5岁以下儿童在引入轮状病毒疫苗之前（2010 - 2013年）和之后（2014 - 2017年）的腹泻病例。数据从地区卫生信息系统第2版中提取，并使用单因素协方差分析进行分析。
在引入轮状病毒疫苗之前，有14500例腹泻病例，感染率为1.6%。引入轮状病毒疫苗之后，有14400例腹泻病例，感染率为1.58%。效应量（偏 eta）为0.01%，这一数据支持了上述结果，且效应量非常小。引入轮状病毒疫苗后腹泻病例的趋势波动，腹泻病例没有大幅下降。
该研究得出结论，轮状病毒疫苗在预防卡万戈地区5岁以下儿童腹泻疾病方面效果较差。由于其他因素可能导致腹泻病例的波动，因此需要进一步研究来证实这些发现。
