MoH introduces new diarrhoea vaccine

Rotarix (RV1) will be added to the schedule along with a Pneumococcal vaccine, Prevenar 13. The vaccine will be given in two doses - orally at the age of two months and three months at an interval of four weeks between the two doses, according to a press statement from the MOH.

Health officials are saying that the rotavirus vaccine is a welcome addition to the national immunisation schedule, as Botswana is often hit by diarrhoea outbreaks caused by the virus.  In the worst outbreak the country has ever seen, over 20,000 diarrhoea cases were recorded and over 450 children died in 2006. By September last year, 5,580 cases had been recorded.