Rotavirus vaccines made by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck and Sanofi Aventis, have the potential to protect the lives of million of poor children suffering from diarrhea.

According to reports, 400,000 children die from rotavirus every year. This forces governments to make the vaccines, which can improve the health of many children.

The researchers gave three doses of the vaccine to 2,000 babies and the results reported that the vaccination prevents 39 to 49 percent of infections in some of the poorest countries like Asia and Africa.

Merck's RotaTeq vaccine has been tested by Victor's team in the rural area of Matlab in Bangladesh and urban and semi-urban parts of Vietnam.

Victor said that rotavirus can fight against the most common causes of meningitis, pneumonia and other bacterial infections.

The researchers have assured low income countries that vaccine will be available at reasonable prices.

The Geneva-based Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization or GAVI brokered an Advance Market Commitment agreement in March under which Pfizer and Glaxo signed a 10-year deal to supply 60 million doses a year of cut-price pneumococcal vaccines to developing nations.