Is a Vaccine Needed? The Events of 1999 - Graeme Barnes
Pathophysiology & Global Epidemiology of Intussusception - Julie Bines
Is Intussusception Rhesus Rotavirus Specific? What are the options? - Ruth Bishop

Relief in 1998 that a rotavirus vaccine was at last licensed, was short lived. Tetravalent Rhesus Rotavirus Vaccine (RRV-TV) was withdrawn in 1999 when an association with intussusception was suspected. This has spawned debate about relative risks of vaccine versus wild-type rotavirus infection, scientific questions about whether intussusception is rhesus-rotavirus-specific, and a realisation that the pathophysiology and epidemiology of "natural" intussusception is poorly understood. The need to exclude rare but serious side effects of new candidate rotavirus vaccines, has major implications for the logistics and cost of future clinical trials.

This symposium will begin with a brief review of the events leading to the withdrawal of RRV-TV. Julie Bines will review the global epidemiology of intussusception. Ruth Bishop will then attempt to dissect out evidence whether or not intussusception is rhesus-specific. Audience participation will include comments about the issues facing industry developers of new candidate vaccines.

Professor Ruth Bishop AO, led the team which discovered rotavirus in 1973. She heads the WHO Collaborating Centre for Rotavirus Research in Melbourne. Dr Julie Bines is a paediatric gastroenterologist specialising in clinical nutrition. She was given the task of reviewing intussusception epidemiology, during sabbatical leave at WHO in Geneva. Graeme Barnes has conducted clinical trials of a human rotavirus candidate vaccine.