A long sought after vaccine is about to become available in Saskatchewan.
The Rotavirus vaccine will become part of the province’s routine childhood immunization program in November.
Rotavirus is a highly communicable, common diarrheal illness that affects all ages, most particularly young children.
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Much of the credit for the development of the vaccine to this point goes to initial work done at Saskatoon’s VIDO-InterVac.
Under the auspices of Dr. Lorne Babiuk at the time, the vaccine progressed to the animal stages which provided enabling technology that has led to it being available for human consumption.
Now in Alberta, Dr. Babiuk has received national recognition for his work at VIDO-InterVac.
In Saskatchewan, it is estimated that Rotavirus results in nine-thousand episodes of illness in infants each year.
The two-dose oral vaccine will be given to infants between six weeks and eight months of age.
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