Impact of rotavirus vaccination in Malawi from 2012 to 2022 compared to model predictions before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND

Rotarix rotavirus vaccine was introduced into the Malawi national immunization program in October 2012. We used a previously developed mathematical models to estimate overall vaccine effectiveness over a 10-year period following rotavirus vaccine introduction.

METHODS

We analyzed data on children <5 years old hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis in Blantyre, Malawi from January 2012 to June 2022, compared to pre-vaccination data. We estimated vaccine coverage before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic using data from rotavirus-negative children. We compared model predictions for the weekly number of rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis (RVGE) cases to the observed number by age to validate model predictions and estimate overall vaccine effectiveness.

RESULTS

The number of RVGE and rotavirus-negative acute gastroenteritis cases declined substantially following vaccine introduction. Vaccine coverage among rotavirus-negative controls was >90% with two doses by July 2014, and declined to a low of ~80% in October 2020, before returning to pre-pandemic levels by July 2021. Our models captured the post-vaccination trends in RVGE incidence, with 5.4% to 19.4% of observed weekly RVGE cases falling outside of the 95% prediction intervals. Comparing observed RVGE cases to the model-predicted incidence without vaccination, overall vaccine effectiveness was estimated to be 36.0% (95% prediction interval: 33.6%, 39.9%) peaking in 2014 and was highest in infants (52.5%; 95% prediction interval: 50.1%, 54.9%).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination in Malawi is modest despite high vaccine coverage and has plateaued since 2016. Our mathematical models provide a validated platform for assessing strategies to improve rotavirus vaccine impact.