The autonomous communities have until December 31, 2025 to include in their vaccination programs the rotavirus antigen inoculated to babies. Although they had enough time to do so, some regions have already taken the lead and started vaccinating babies against this virus. However, ACCA families of four still don’t know when this product will start being funded.
It is about Andalusia, Balearic Islands, Castile-La Mancha and Extremadurato which are added the two autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla). None of them have therefore started vaccination against rotavirus. It is the families who must pay for the antigen out of their own pockets if they wish to vaccinate their children.
However, two of these regions have made progress in this regard. Balearic IslandsFor example, on September 6, it authorized the inclusion of this antigen in the vaccination schedule from the first quarter of 2025, but without a campaign start date. The same thing happened in Castile-La Manchawhere the new schedule including the rotavirus vaccine has already been approved, but without detailing the deadlines.
For their part, six regions have already announced when the funded vaccination of this antigen will begin. Madrid, Aragon, Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country and Navarre. Madrid will do it in the third quarter of this year; Aragon and Asturias will do the same next October; and Cantabria, the Basque Country and Navarre will begin in 2025 to vaccinate people born from January of next year.
Meanwhile, in Canary Islands, Castile and Leon, Galicia, La Rioja, Murcia and Valencian Community The rotavirus antigen for infants is already funded, so families living in these areas save the 200 euros that these vaccines cost.
Vaccines
The Vaccine Advisory Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics recommends universal vaccination against rotavirus for all young infants. However, until now, this serum was not included in the common schedule. In other words, parents who decided to vaccinate their children had to pay the cost out of their own pocket, which amounts to around 200 euros.
In the Spanish market there are two vaccines authorized against this virus: Rotarix and Rotateq. The first is part of the British pharmaceutical company’s portfolio GSKThe vaccination schedule is completed with two doses and the price of each of them is 93.67 euros. In other words, the total cost is 187.34 euros.
Newborn.
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RotaTeq comes from the American laboratory MSD. In this case, the doses needed to complete the regimen amount to three. The price per dose is 69.5 euros, so the total comes to 208.5 euros.
Both vaccines are based in attenuated viruses and are administered orally: Instead of being injected, it is a liquid that is drunk. The main goal of vaccines is to reproduce the natural history of infection and protect against serious diseases in the first months of life.
It should not be forgotten that rotavirus is the main cause of severe infantile diarrhea and it affects virtually all children during the first five years of life, especially during the first two years. It is the leading cause of hospitalization for acute diarrhea in our country. The most common complication is dehydration.
According to the Spanish Association of Vaccinology, during the first two years of marketing the Rotarix vaccine More than 80% of severe cases of rotavirus diarrhea have been prevented in low mortality countries (developed countries).
