Laboratory-based surveillance for rotavirus--United States, July 1997-June 1998.

Rotavirus infections are the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis among infants and young children worldwide. Each year in the United States, rotavirus causes an estimated 2.7 million cases of gastroenteritis among children aged <5 years, resulting in approximately 500,000 outpatient clinic and emergency department visits and 49,000 hospitalizations. In addition, rotavirus accounts for an estimated $264 million in health-care costs and approximately $1 billion in total medical and nonmedical costs. The large disease burden and cost associated with rotavirus have led to the development of rotavirus vaccines. In August 1998, the first live attenuated rotavirus vaccine (Rotashield [Wyeth Lederle Vaccines and Pediatrics]) was approved for use in infants by the Food and Drug Administration. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended that this vaccine be given as a three-dose schedule to infants aged 2, 4, and 6 months. Since 1991, rotavirus activity in the United States has been prospectively monitored by the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), a voluntary, laboratory-based system. This report summarizes surveillance data from NREVSS during the 1997-1998 rotavirus season and reviews issues related to rotavirus surveillance that are important for a national rotavirus vaccine program.