Letters
Acute Gastroenteritis Hospitalizations Among US Children Following Implementation of the Rotavirus Vaccine Routine rotavirus vaccination of US children was implemented in 2006, with 2 or 3 doses recommended before the age of 8 months.1 Previous studies have demonstrated the association of rotavirus vaccine introduction with reductions in health care use during the early postintroduction period or with limited insurance databases.2-4 Because laboratory testing and coding for rotavirus are not routinely performed for patients with diarrhea, we examined both allcause acute gastroenteritis and rotavirus-coded hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years from 2000 through 2012.
Figure. Monthly Acute Gastroenteritis and Rotavirus-Coded Hospitalization Rates Among Children Younger Than 5 Years in 24 States During January 2010 Through December 2012 200
Hospitalization Rate per 10 000
RESEARCH LETTER
Hospitalization All-cause acute gastroenteritis Rotavirus
160
120
80
40
0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Year
Methods | We analyzed State Inpatient Databases of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, which capture hospitalizations in community and academic hospitals. Allcause acute gastroenteritis hospitalizations, including bacterial, parasitic, viral, undetermined etiology or diarrhea presumed noninfectious, and rotavirus-coded hospitalizations were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes, as previously described.2-4 We restricted the analyses to 26 states that consistently reported hospital discharge data each year during 2000 through 2012. Approximately 74% of US children younger than 5 years resided in these 26 states.5 Rates were calculated by dividing the annual number of hospitalizations by the number of children younger than 5 years residing in the participating states during that year and analyzed by admission month, sex, age group, and race.5 We calculated rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals using Poisson regression analysis to compare mean annual hospitalization rates for prevaccine (2000-2006) and postvaccine (2008-2012) years; 2007 was considered a transition year. Statistical significance was defined as a 2-sided P value of
Acute Gastroenteritis Hospitalizations Among US Children Following Implementation of the Rotavirus Vaccine Routine rotavirus vaccination of US children was implemented in 2006, with 2 or 3 doses recommended before the age of 8 months.1 Previous studies have demonstrated the association of rotavirus vaccine introduction with reductions in health care use during the early postintroduction period or with limited insurance databases.2-4 Because laboratory testing and coding for rotavirus are not routinely performed for patients with diarrhea, we examined both allcause acute gastroenteritis and rotavirus-coded hospitalizations among children younger than 5 years from 2000 through 2012.
Figure. Monthly Acute Gastroenteritis and Rotavirus-Coded Hospitalization Rates Among Children Younger Than 5 Years in 24 States During January 2010 Through December 2012 200
Hospitalization Rate per 10 000
RESEARCH LETTER
Hospitalization All-cause acute gastroenteritis Rotavirus
160
120
80
40
0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Year
Methods | We analyzed State Inpatient Databases of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, which capture hospitalizations in community and academic hospitals. Allcause acute gastroenteritis hospitalizations, including bacterial, parasitic, viral, undetermined etiology or diarrhea presumed noninfectious, and rotavirus-coded hospitalizations were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes, as previously described.2-4 We restricted the analyses to 26 states that consistently reported hospital discharge data each year during 2000 through 2012. Approximately 74% of US children younger than 5 years resided in these 26 states.5 Rates were calculated by dividing the annual number of hospitalizations by the number of children younger than 5 years residing in the participating states during that year and analyzed by admission month, sex, age group, and race.5 We calculated rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals using Poisson regression analysis to compare mean annual hospitalization rates for prevaccine (2000-2006) and postvaccine (2008-2012) years; 2007 was considered a transition year. Statistical significance was defined as a 2-sided P value of
