ABSTRACT
Viral infections are a primary cause of childhood morbidity and mortality globally. The World Health Organization estimated that between 2000 and 2003, 37% of deaths in children younger than five years were due to pneumonia or diarrhea (1). In addition, preterm delivery was estimated to account for 10% of deaths, of which a portion are likely associated with viral infections. Every child acquires certain common respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses in the first few years of life. These common viruses exact a large toll in terms of morbidity and healthcare resources even in developed countries. For example, prior to the availability of rotavirus vaccination, the United States annual rate of hospitalizations for diarrhea in children younger than five years was estimated to be 97 per 10,000 persons (average, 185,742 per year) (2). Rotavirus was estimated to account for 231 deaths, >87,000 hospitalizations, and almost 700,000 outpatient visits for children younger than five years of age in the European Union (3). Similarly, population-based rates of acute viral respiratory infection hospitalizations in children younger than five years in the United States have been estimated to be 180 per 10,000 children per year (4).
