|  | Family Health | Childrens Health

Rotavirus Infection in Children

Almost every child will experience at least one rotavirus infection by the time they are five years old. Rotavirus is also the leading cause for diarrhea and severe dehydration amongst infants and children. Rotavirus causes at least 3 million cases of diarrhea yearly and at least 55,000 hospitalizations for severe diarrhea and dehydration amongst children ages five years old and younger.

  1. Symptoms

    • Rotavirus symptoms include frequent, watery stools and diarrhea, stomach and abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, runny nose and coughing. Diarrhea that accompanies a rotavirus infection can lead to severe dehydration, which is identified by symptoms such as restlessness, lethargy, irritability, thirst, sunken eyes, dry skin, dry mouth and tongue and reduced urination.

    Home Treatments

    • Children infected with rotavirus who are not dehydrated and have mild diarrhea may continue eating a normal diet yet receive increased fluids. Those with moderate dehydration should drink small, frequent amounts of re-hydration fluids and return to eating a normal diet when symptoms have subsided. Avoid soft drinks and fruit juices, as they further irritate diarrhea symptoms. Children experieincing vomiting should be given small, frequent servings of fluids until they are able to keep larger amounts of liquids down. If they are unable to keep any fluid down, offer ice chips. Once vomiting has subsided, a bland diet of crackers, toast, rice, applesauce and bananas should be administered until the rotavirus symptoms have subsided.

    Professional Treatment

    • Depending on the severity of your child's rotavirus infection, your pediatrician may need to perform stool, blood and/or urine tests to ensure that the diarrhea is not caused from a bacterial infection. Moderately and severely dehydrated children may need to be hospitalized to receive intravenous (IV) fluids in order to stabilize their bodily fluids and salt levels. Antibiotic treatments are ineffective against the rotavirus and are never used for treating the virus.

    Prevention/Solution

    • Rotavirus is extremely contagious and occurs commonly in outbreaks during the winter and spring months. The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends three doses of the rotavirus vaccine with all standard infant immunizations which prevents 75 percent of rotavirus infections. Frequent hand washing is the number one prevention method for reducing rotavirus infections. Children infected with the rotavirus should stay home from daycare, school and public places until all diarrhea symptoms have stopped.

    Warning

    • Seek medical help immediately if your child has a fever of 102 degrees or higher, bloody diarrhea, severe stomach pain, both diarrhea and vomiting over six hours, lethargic or shows signs of severe dehydrations such as excessive thirst, dizziness, dry mouth and reduced urination.

Childrens Health - Related Articles