[Anti-rotavirus vaccination: what impedes its wide prescription]

The aim of this study was to analyze why anti-rotavirus vaccination is rarely used in France, although this infection is frequent and associated with a large number of hospitalizations.

A questionnaire was sent to 732 general practitioners and pediatricians in the Bordeaux area.

The response rate was 57% (381 GPs and 38 pediatricians). Most of them (71.8%) declared that they received information on the vaccination and more than 80% of them feel that gastroenteritis is a severe disease. However, anti-rotavirus is never prescribed by the majority of them (59.6%) and only 2.6% prescribe it systematically. The reasons are that the patient is not refunded (64.2%), the vaccination timetable is overloaded (53.6%), and there are no recommendations for this vaccination (35.1%). Physicians believe that parents feel gastroenteritis as a benign disease (52.6%) and say that they refuse the vaccination because it is not refunded (77.7%), not mandatory (45.5%), or may have side effects (44.1%). Physicians' prescription of vaccination is correlated to their information on the vaccination and their feeling about the disease's severity. They would modify their practice if the vaccination was recommended and/or refunded.

The main obstacles against anti-rotavirus vaccination are the absence of recommendations and refunding. The recent recommendation for the vaccination and a lower price should lead to its generalization in France.