Rotavirusvaccinatie: prioriteit voor hoog-risicokinderen.

Rotaviruses cause acute gastroenteritis; mostly in young children. Infant rotavirus vaccines have been licensed in Europe and provide excellent protection against severe gastroenteritis, but are not widely implemented due to the perceived benign character of rotavirus disease and unfavourable cost-effectiveness. Rotavirus vaccines are currently unavailable in the Netherlands which leaves a particularly vulnerable group of infants--those with prematurity, low birth weight or severe congenital malformations--at increased risk of rotavirus disease, complications and even death. Rotavirus vaccination should be made available to these infants, but due to the strict age limits for the rotavirus vaccination (which must be started at <14 weeks), vaccination cannot be adequately organised within the Dutch National Immunisation Programme (NIP) which relies on well-baby clinic visits. Organising rotavirus vaccination for high-risk infants through paediatric secondary care could overcome this problem and be implemented independent of decisions on uptake of rotavirus vaccination within the Dutch NIP.