Community Based Prevention of Rotavirus Gastroenteritis by a Functional Food Supplement

Christian Medical College, Vellore, India

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 3

Phase 2

Conditions

Rotavirus Gastroenteritis

Treatments

Dietary Supplement: Maltodextrin

Dietary Supplement: Anti-rotavirus protein

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT01265355

CMCLB001

Details and patient eligibility

About

Rotavirus is the commonest cause of severe gastroenteritis in young children worldwide. The investigators hypothesize that use of a food based prophylactic will decrease incidence of rotavirus infection in young children in south India, prevent intestinal damage and overall result in lower infection rates and better gut function. This trial will evaluate the efficacy of prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis when an anti-rotavirus protein or antibody fragments expressed in yeast or placebo are given daily as a food supplement to children between the ages of 6 and 12 months. The children will followed for one year and rates of rotavirus diarrhoea, antibody responses and gut function will be compared between children receiving antibody fragments or placebo.

Full description

The study will be carried out in an urban slum area in Vellore, south India. Children between the ages of 6 and 12 months will be recruited for participation in the study. They will be randomized to receive supplementation with ARP or placebo, and will be followed for a period of one year, with weekly home visits and monitoring of all episodes of diarrhoea. In addition, every two weeks, surveillance stool samples will be collected and tested for rotavirus to identify asymptomatic infections by PCR. All episodes of diarrhoea will be investigated intensively for bacterial, viral and parasitic agents of diarrhoea using both conventional and molecular techniques and all cases will be treated appropriately at the study clinic or referral hospital as required. Monthly anthropometric measurements will be carried out to estimate rates of growth and to identify growth faltering. Blood samples will be taken at 4, 8 and 12 months for estimation of anti-rotavirus IgA and IgG antibodies. Studies on intestinal absorption and permeability will be carried out at recruitment, 6 and 12 months by the lactulose:mannitol test (measured by HPLC detection of sugars). All rotavirus strains obtained will be characterized by genotyping.

Enrollment

330 patients

Sex

All

Ages

6 to 12 months old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Healthy child aged 6 to 12 months, families resident in the study area, willing to participate and available for follow up for a period of one year
Normal birth weight (> 2.5 kg), child exclusively breast fed for at least four months

Exclusion criteria

Families not available for a follow up period of one year
Children with any atopic conditions
Children with gross congenital anomalies including cardiovascular, renal or hepatic disease
Children with syndromic or serological evidence of HIV infection