by J.P. McCauley

Created on: July 04, 2010   Last Updated: July 06, 2010

Nearly all children will contract rotavirus at least once before the age of five. It is the most common cause for severe childhood diarrhea, and worldwide, rotavirus accounts for half a million deaths each year. While it is a very manageable illness, before vaccinations were available, rotavirus accounted for fifty to sixty thousand hospitalizations and about 37 deaths per year in the United States.

Rotavirus is one of several viruses that are ofter referred to as the stomach flu, and there are five distinct species or rotavirus. Of all of these viruses, rotavirus A is the cause of the stomach flu about 90% of the time. Rotavirus is spread via the faecal-oral route. That is, the virus is present in the feces of infected infants, and spreads to new hosts via oral contact with hands or other objects. While it may seem easy to control a virus spread by this means, typical sanitary measure have been proven ineffective in slowing the spread of rotavirus. Proof of this is that counties with both high and low sanitary standards have similar infection rates.

Most rotavirus infections occur from the months of November and May in the United States. Rotavirus infections cause vomiting and watery diarrhea lasting three to eight days. These symptoms are frequently accompanied by fever and abdominal pain. The main cause of fatality from rotavirus is dehydration. Efforts should be made to keep the infected child hydrated; severe cases may warrant intravenous hydration in a hospital. Catching rotavirus does not provide complete immunity, but future instances are normally less severe that the original infection. Due to immunity gained in childhood, most adults are no longer susceptible to rotavirus. Childhood vaccination are not guaranteed to completely prevent a rotavirus infection, but they are highly effective in lessening the symptoms.

There are currently two approved vaccines: Rotarix from GlaxoSmithKline and RotaTek from Merck. Both are given orally, and both have proven to be safe. An earlier product, RotaShield, was withdrawn from the market in 1999 after it was discovered that it could cause bowel obstruction in one in twelve thousand infants. Your doctor will decide on which product to use. The vaccine is administered in three doses at age 2 months, 4 months and 6 months. The first does of the vaccine should not be administered before 6 weeks or after 12 weeks, and no dose should be administered after 32 weeks.

In 2009, the World Health Organization recommended that all nations include rotavirus vaccinations in their national immunization plans. While this vaccinations remains optional in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommend that all children are vaccinated. The CDC has issued two reports detailing how rotavirus activity was markedly less extensive in the years since vaccination has become common.

Although it is a highly common condition, childhood diarrhea can be a serious and life threatening health issue. Advances in medicine has now given us a save way to combat the most common cause of childhood diarrhea in the from of oral vaccinations.

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