Post-marketing safety surveillance of the rotavirus vaccine in India.

Background: ROTASIIL, an oral live attenuated bovine-human reassortant pentavalent rotavirus vaccine, was approved in 2017. This post-marketing surveillance (PMS) was conducted to collect real-world data on the safety of ROTASIIL in India.

Methods: Observational, active PMS was conducted in approximately 10,000 infants aged ≥ 6 weeks. ROTASIIL was administered as a 3-dose regimen, at least 4 weeks apart, beginning at ≥ 6 weeks of age concomitantly with other Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) vaccines. Participants were followed for one month after the last dose. The adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs), including intussusception (IS) reported during the follow up period were collected.

Findings: A total of 9940 infants were enrolled and were considered for safety analysis. Around 9913 (99.7 %) infants received 2 doses, while 9893 (99.5 %) infants completed all three doses. Total 3693 AEs were reported in 2516 (25.3 %) participants. Most of these AEs were pyrexia (78.01 % of events) and injection-site reactions (19.14 % of events). Nearly all AEs were causally unrelated to orally administered ROTASIIL and could be caused by the concomitant injectable vaccines. Only 4 AEs (2 events of vomiting and 1 event each of discomfort and pyrexia) in 4 (<0.1 %) participants could be related to ROTASIIL. AEs were of mild or moderate severity and all resolved without any sequelae. A total of 2 SAEs (acute otitis media and skull fracture) were reported in 2 (<0.1 %) participants and were not related to ROTASIIL and recovered without sequelae. No case of IS was reported.

Interpretation: ROTASIIL was safe and well tolerated in this study. No safety concerns were reported.

Funding: The study was funded by SIIPL which is the manufacturer of the study product.