- CHICAGO (Reuters) - The American Academy of Pediatrics Wednesday added
another vaccine to the list of those it recommends be given to infants
and children.
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- The vaccine is designed to protect children
from rotavirus, a common winter infectious disease that results in diarrhea
and low-grade fever.
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- The group said it was telling its members
that the vaccine should be given to infants at two, four and six months
of age. In the United States alone, the academy said, the infection is
responsible for 50,000 hospitalizations each year. It is a major health
problem in poor countries where it often results in death. The vaccinations
previously recommended by the group are for hepatitis B, for a form of
influenza, polio, diptheria-pertussis-tetanus, measles-mumps-rubella and
chicken pox. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a rotavirus
vaccine in August.
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