Rotavirus is highly contagious
rotavirus can cause high fever, multiple
episodes of vomiting and diarrhea, and can
quickly lead to dehydration (loss of body
fluids).
• rotavirus can be mild, moderate, or
severe—it can be difficult to predict
which infected children will have severe
cases.
• a severe case of rotavirus could send
your child to the emergency room or your
child may be hospitalized.
• rotavirus infections occur mostly
during the winter, but they may happen at
any time of the year.
• rotavirus is usually spread through
contaminated hands or objects, and can
remain on surfaces for a long time.
• soaps can't kill rotavirus, and most
disinfectants don't work.
Symptoms of rotavirus
if your baby gets sick with rotavirus,
symptoms may come on suddenly and usually
begin with a fever, vomiting, and an upset
stomach, followed by watery diarrhea that
can last from 3 to 9 days.
Effect of rotavirus
there is no reliable way to predict which
babies will have serious cases, but we do
know that every year in the united states,
rotavirus is estimated to be responsible
for up to 70,000 hospitalizations and
approximately 250,000 emergency room
visits among children younger than 5 years
of age.
Now you can do more to help protect your
baby
rotateq is a vaccine to help prevent
rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants. It
was shown to help protect infants against
the most common types of rotavirus.
Rotateq does not protect against diarrhea
and vomiting that are caused by something
other than rotavirus and it may not fully
protect all children who get the
vaccine.
Rotateq may not fully protect all children
that get the vaccine, and if your child
already has the virus it will not help
them.
Sarah(not the author)