Effectiveness of Lanzhou lamb rotavirus vaccine against rotavirus gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization: a matched case-control study.

We sought to determine the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of Lanzhou lamb rotavirus (LLR) vaccine against rotavirus gastroenteritis in children <5 requiring hospitalization. Children hospitalized 2002–2004 with rotavirus gastroenteritis were matched by gender, age and community to 838 controls. VE was calculated for one or more doses of LLR vaccine with 95% confidence intervals (CI). For one dose versus zero doses, LLR vaccine VE was 73.3% (95% CI, range 61.2–81.6%). VE of one dose versus zero doses was higher in children 12–23 months than in children 2–11 months (80.9% versus 60.0%). We found one dose moderately effective in preventing rotavirus gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization.