An observational study in Feasibility Study, Vaccine Immune Response and Rota Virus Gastroenteritis, sponsored by Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia. Completed at 1 site in Zambia. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-03.
Sponsored by Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia · Observational
The Rotavirus SpatioTrasncriptomics (Rota-Omics) study is a multidisciplinary research project aimed at understanding why oral rotavirus vaccines perform less effectively in some low- and middle-income countries, including Zambia. Rotavirus remains one of the leading causes of severe diarrheal disease in infants and young children worldwide, despite the widespread introduction of vaccines such as Rotarix® and Rotavac®. Although these vaccines have greatly reduced childhood deaths in many countries, vaccine effectiveness is often lower in settings where the burden of disease is highest. Understanding the reasons behind this reduced protection is critical for improving child health globally.
A major focus of the study is Environmental Enteropathy (EE), also known as Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED), a chronic inflammatory condition of the small intestine that is common in low-resource settings. EE is associated with damage to the intestinal lining, chronic immune activation, poor nutrient absorption, and impaired gut barrier function. These changes are thought to interfere with the body's ability to respond effectively to oral vaccines, which rely on strong intestinal immune responses.
The RotaOmics study uses a systems biology approach to investigate how the immune system, gut microbiome, nutrition, and intestinal inflammation interact to influence rotavirus vaccine responses. The term "omics" refers to advanced technologies that allow researchers to study genes, proteins, microbes, and other biological processes at a large scale. By combining these approaches, the study aims to identify biological markers and immune pathways associated with strong or weak vaccine responses.
The study involves the collection of samples such as blood, stool, saliva, and breast milk from mothers and infants at different time points before and after vaccination. These samples are analysed using laboratory methods including antibody testing, molecular pathogen detection, microbiome sequencing, and immune profiling. The study also evaluates markers of gut inflammation and intestinal health.
One important goal of the project is to identify correlates of protection, which are measurable biological indicators that predict whether a vaccine is likely to protect against disease. Identifying these markers could help guide the development of improved vaccines or supportive interventions to enhance vaccine performance in vulnerable populations.
The study also contributes to a broader understanding of mucosal immunity, which refers to immune responses occurring in the gastrointestinal tract. Since many enteric infections begin in the gut, understanding intestinal immune function is important not only for rotavirus vaccines but also for other oral vaccines and diarrheal diseases.
In addition to its scientific objectives, RotaOmics includes a strong capacity-building component. The project supports training for local scientists, clinicians, and laboratory personnel in areas such as molecular biology, immunology, genomics, bioinformatics, and data analysis. By strengthening local research expertise and infrastructure, the study aims to support long-term scientific development and improve regional capacity for infectious disease research and outbreak response.
Overall, the RotaOmics study seeks to generate new insights into why oral rotavirus vaccines underperform in some settings and to identify strategies that may improve vaccine effectiveness and child health outcomes in Zambia and similar regions worldwide.
237 studies on the registry are indexed under Gastroenteritis; 16 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 46 is below the median of 606 across 62 observational studies indexed under Gastroenteritis.
Browse Gastroenteritis studies →Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia is the lead sponsor of 41 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Healthy adults living in Chawama, a densely populated peri-urban setting in proximity to the study recruitment site.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Pregnancy testing and counselling: Women of will require a negative urine pregnancy test within 24 hours prior to endoscopy and vaccination and will be counselled to avoid pregnancy during the first 30 days post-vaccination.
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.
Able to have children. For women this usually means from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery; for men, unless permanently sterile. Read who the line is about — participants, women, men, or their partners.
Criteria about it usually ask for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Live vaccines
Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Reproductive potential
Able to have children. For women this usually means from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery; for men, unless permanently sterile. Read who the line is about — participants, women, men, or their partners.
Criteria about it usually ask for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants will receive a double oral Rotarix dose at baseline. Serial duodenal biopsies will be collected from predefined subgroups to capture early, mid, and late mucosal responses while minimizing per-participant invasive procedures (the sparse sampling design allows construction of profiles of responses over 4 time points while no individual participant undergoes more than 2 endoscopies). The study design avoids confounding from placebo-related procedural differences and allows for robust within-subject longitudinal comparisons.
Biological: Rotarix®,
This is an infant vaccine, but this study participants in this study will receive a double oral Rotarix dose at baseline as per study design.
Proportion of participants completing all scheduled study procedures
The percentage of enrolled participants who complete all scheduled study visits and protocol-defined procedures.
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Sample Quality Control (QC) Success Rate
The proportion of tissue biopsies that successfully meet the defined technical quality control thresholds required for spatial transcriptomic (ST) processing (e.g., RNA integrity number, tissue structural preservation, and spot sequencing depth).
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Proportion of intestinal biopsy samples meeting predefined quality control thresholds
The percentage of collected intestinal biopsy samples meeting predefined quality control criteria for downstream laboratory analysis, including tissue integrity and adequate sample preservation.
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Pre-analytical Sample Processing Efficiency
The precise duration of time (measured in minutes) recorded from the exact moment of clinical biopsy collection to the successful snap-freezing/cryopreservation of the tissue sample.
Time frame: Periprocedural
Clinical Follow-up Retention Rate
The percentage of enrolled study participants who successfully complete all scheduled follow-up clinical visits and specimen collection time points as per the study protocol.
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year.
Regulated Gene Expression Profiles
Identification of differentially expressed genes and pathway spatial modules within histologically mapped regions of interest (ROIs) on Hematoxylin and Eosin-stained tissue architectures, analysed via spatially aware linear mixed-effects models.
Time frame: Baseline, and up to 52 weeks post-enrollment.
Correlation of Mucosal Spatial Transcriptomics with Systemic Immunity
The statistical relationship (evaluated using Spearman rank correlation coefficients) between tissue-based spatial gene module scores and external serologic or stool-based mucosal immune biomarkers, adjusted for age, sex, and baseline environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) markers.
Time frame: Baseline, and up to 52 weeks post-enrollment.
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: No — Due to requirements of the ethics committee, the study is not permitted to share individual participant data unless otherwise requested for and approved by the University of Zambia Biomedical Research Ethics Committee.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia