Malcolm Gladwell

I mean, to lose one, To be a doctor and lose one baby is emotionally overwhelming. You're talking about over the course of working in a ward, you would lose dozens of children over the course of months.

I mean, to lose one, To be a doctor and lose one baby is emotionally overwhelming. You're talking about over the course of working in a ward, you would lose dozens of children over the course of months.

The battle against rotavirus took years. First, the virus itself had to be identified, separated out from all the other pathogens that can cause diarrhea in young children. Then a vaccine had to be constructed from that newly identified virus. Another time-consuming task. One of the leading groups working on the problem was at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, at a lab run by Paul Offit.

The battle against rotavirus took years. First, the virus itself had to be identified, separated out from all the other pathogens that can cause diarrhea in young children. Then a vaccine had to be constructed from that newly identified virus. Another time-consuming task. One of the leading groups working on the problem was at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, at a lab run by Paul Offit.

2006.

2006.

2006. How long did you work on that? 26 years. Wow. Why was that a hard problem to solve?

2006. How long did you work on that? 26 years. Wow. Why was that a hard problem to solve?

Offit's group took their candidate vaccine to the drug company Merck, which spent well over a billion dollars to bring the candidate vaccine to market. The result was Rototec.

Offit's group took their candidate vaccine to the drug company Merck, which spent well over a billion dollars to bring the candidate vaccine to market. The result was Rototec.

It dominated your residency.

It dominated your residency.

Yeah. And now it's gone.

Yeah. And now it's gone.

Other rotavirus vaccines followed. A group of scientists in India developed their own in 2016. Also around this time, many developing countries made huge strides in sanitation, which cut down on the spread of the virus. Oral rehydration therapy became widespread. And now the dedicated diarrhea wards that were such a big part of Kumar's training are all but gone.

Other rotavirus vaccines followed. A group of scientists in India developed their own in 2016. Also around this time, many developing countries made huge strides in sanitation, which cut down on the spread of the virus. Oral rehydration therapy became widespread. And now the dedicated diarrhea wards that were such a big part of Kumar's training are all but gone.

It's hard to find anyone who works with children and remembers the way things were who isn't in love with the rotavirus vaccine. And you sort of list the most important innovations that you've seen that have affected the lives of children. Where does this rank? At the top. Amongst the top.

It's hard to find anyone who works with children and remembers the way things were who isn't in love with the rotavirus vaccine. And you sort of list the most important innovations that you've seen that have affected the lives of children. Where does this rank? At the top. Amongst the top.

This is Dr. Zulfikar Bhutta, co-director for the Center of Global Child Health at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. He spent years as a pediatrician in his native Pakistan.

This is Dr. Zulfikar Bhutta, co-director for the Center of Global Child Health at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. He spent years as a pediatrician in his native Pakistan.