Young children to get rotavirus vaccine

This is an important advance as whilst rotavirus does not cause many deaths in the UK, it does cause a huge amount of suffering.

Rotavirus affects large numbers of under-fives causing them diarrhoea for a few days. This vaccine will mean less pressure both on distressed parents who have to care for their children and of course the GPs and hospital services who are treating them.

This is a vaccine that has been used for some years in the US, so though new to us there is a large body of experience showing that it is safe and effective.