Rotavirus

Prevent Rotavirus

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Rotavirus causes diarrhea and spreads easily among infants and young children. Some children may get severe diarrhea, become dehydrated and need to be hospitalized. Protect your child with rotavirus vaccine.

Rotavirus disease is common among infants and young children. Rotavirus can cause severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. Some children with rotavirus disease lose a lot of fluids and become very dehydrated. As a result, they may need to be hospitalized and can even die.

Photo: Babies

Rotavirus spreads easily among children. A child can get rotavirus by accidently getting (stool) poop into their mouth from another child who has rotavirus. This can happen if a child puts their unwashed hands or a contaminated object, food, or liquids into their mouth. In the United States, children are more likely to get rotavirus from December to June.

Rotavirus Can Cause Dehydration

Symptoms of Dehydration

  • Decrease in urination
  • Dry mouth and throat
  • Feeling dizzy when standing up

A dehydrated child may cry with few or no tears and be unusually sleepy or fussy.

Prevent Dehydration

You can help prevent your child from getting dehydrated by having them drink plenty of liquids. Oral rehydration solutions (ORS) are helpful to prevent and treat dehydration. These are commonly available in food and drug stores. If you are unsure about how to use ORS, call your doctor.

Photo: Mom tickling baby

Children are most likely to get rotavirus disease in the winter and spring (December through June).

Protect Your Child with Rotavirus Vaccine

The best way to protect your child from rotavirus is with rotavirus vaccine. Almost all children who get rotavirus vaccine (85 to 98 percent) will be protected from severe rotavirus disease. Most vaccinated children will not get sick from rotavirus at all.

There are two different rotavirus vaccines. Both are given by putting vaccine drops in an infant’s mouth.

  • Rotateq® – Infants should receive three doses of this vaccine—at 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months of age.
  • Rotarix® – Infants should receive two doses of this vaccine—at 2 months and 4 months of age.
  • Children should receive the first dose of either vaccine before they are 15 weeks old and all doses they turn 8 months old.

Millions of Infants Have Been Vaccinated

Millions of infants in the United States have gotten rotavirus vaccine safely. However, some studies have shown a small increase in cases of intussusception from rotavirus vaccination. Intussusception is a bowel blockage that is treated in a hospital and may require surgery. It is estimated that risk of intussusception is 1 in every 20,000 infants to 1 in every 100,000 infants after vaccination. Intussusception is most likely to happen within the first week after the first or second dose of rotavirus vaccine.​

CDC continues to recommend that infants receive rotavirus vaccine. The benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the small risk of intussusception. Thanks to the rotavirus vaccine, there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of children who are hospitalized or visit the emergency room because of rotavirus illness in the United States.

Paying for Rotavirus Vaccines

Most health insurance plans cover the cost of vaccines. However, you may want to check with your insurance provider before going to the doctor. If you don’t have health insurance or if your insurance does not cover vaccines for your child, the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program may be able to help. This program helps families of eligible children who might not otherwise have access to vaccines. To find out if your child is eligible, visit the VFC website or ask your child’s doctor. You can also contact your state VFC coordinator.

Did You Know?

Fewer children get rotavirus vaccine compared with other childhood vaccines. . Rotavirus vaccine is very effective, especially against severe disease. By vaccinating their infants, parents can protect their children against rotavirus, which is very contagious and causes outbreaks.

Learn about past outbreaks of rotavirus that affected unvaccinated and vaccinated children, and caused severe disease and the death of a child. Learn more about rotavirus outbreaks.

More Information

GM rice delivers antibodies against deadly rotavirus.

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A strain of rice genetically engineered to protect against diarrhoeal disease could offer a cost-effective way to protect children in developing countries, according a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation today (8 August).

Researchers engineered the rice, called MucoRice-ARP1, by adding an antibody to fight rotavirus originally found in llamas in the rice genome.

Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea in young children and infants, killing more than 520,000 people each year, according to the WHO. More than 85 per cent of those deaths occur in impoverished countries in Africa and Asia.

The team fed MucoRice-ARP1 to mice they subsequently infected with rotavirus, and found these mice had significantly less virus than mice fed normal rice.

The rice could be used to complement vaccinations to protect childrenwhen they are at their most vulnerable to rotavirus, say the researchers.

But it had not yet been tested on humans, and could take a decade before a final product is ready for distribution, says one of the study’s authors Yoshikazu Yuki, of the University of Tokyo in Japan.

The WHO has recommended since 2009 that rotavirus vaccines be included in national immunisation programmes.

But studies have since shown that these vaccines are less effective in developing countries than in industrialised countries, protecting only 50–60 per cent of people immunised in developing countries, compared with 85–98 per cent in industrialised countries.

The reasons for the drop in effectiveness are not yet established, but weakened immune systems are a likely factor says Miren Iturriza-Gomara, a virologist at the UK-based University of Liverpool and one of the study’s authors.

MucoRice-ARP1 could complement existing vaccine schedules. It would not be a substitute for a vaccine, she says, “but it’s something that in certain situations could be very helpful”.

For example, the rice could be given to children under two years old when rotavirus infection is most likely to prove fatal.

The research team found that MucoRice-ARP1 is most effective when consumed as a powder diluted with water, although the antibodies could also be ingested either in cooked rice or by drinking the water in which MucoRice-ARP1 is boiled.

Iturriza-Gomara says the rice could also prove useful during rotavirus outbreaks by lowering transmission rates.

“We must ensure that all the currently available tools are made available to every child in the world.”

Mathuram Santosham

Previous clinical trials in Bangladesh have already established that the antibody arp1 can protect against rotavirus.

Originally found in llamas, arp1 is ideal for oral immunotherapy as it is not readily digested by the acids in the human stomach, according to Iturriza-Gomara.

“Llamas produce single-chain antibodies which have two important properties: one, they are very small and can reach areas of the pathogen which otherwise might not be reached by other antibodies and also because they are single-chain they are very resistant,” Iturriza-Gomara says. “Normal human antibodies are dual-chained. If you eat it and it goes through the stomach, the acid will break it and therefore it won’t be active in the intestine which is where you want it.”

MucoRice-ARP1 would have to be eaten regularly to ensure protection.

“Once you have engineered the rice, then it’s just a matter of growing it,” says Iturriza-Gomara. She says the ease of growing rice, and the fact that it is widely produced as a staple food make it a good vehicle for delivering the antibody. “It can also be stored for years without changes in its edibility,” she says.

While the initial results are promising, says Mathuram Santosham, a leading rotavirus researcher at Johns Hopkins University, United States, “substantially more research is needed to understand the potential impact of this intervention in humans”.

“In the meantime, it is important to remember that we have highly effective tools, which are available now, including rotavirus vaccines, oral rehydration solution and zinc supplementation,” Santosham says. “We must ensure that all the currently available tools are made available to every child in the world.”

Source: Scivx

Talking cigarette packs may help smokers quit.

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Cigarette packets that play recorded messages urging smokers to quit have been created by researchers at Stirling University.

The packets play audio clips giving warning messages about the dangers of smoking when they are opened.

smoke

The recordings warn of the link between smoking and fertility as well as a helpline number to help quit.

They are said to have worked will during tests carried out on a group of women aged 16 to 24.

The study is set to continue, with tests on bigger groups of males and females, aged 16 and over, about to begin.

Crawford Moodie, part of the team who invented the packs at Stirling University, said: “Tobacco companies may use talking packets in the future as part of marketing.

“This research shows how the idea can be used to promote ‘positive health’ to smokers.”

‘Potential impact’

Sheila Duffy, from anti-smoking charity Ash Scotland, said: “I welcome the suggestion that we get more creative to put forward messages of good health and freedom from addiction as alternatives to tobacco.

“We need accurate research to assess the potential impact of any new packaging ideas on people of all ages.

“This latest research, involving young women who smoked, did not suggest that such packaging innovations made cigarettes more attractive to them.”

Alison Cox, from Cancer Research UK, said her charity had funded the Stirling study in a bid “to see if the marketing tools of the tobacco industry can be used to help smokers quit instead”.

The Scottish government earlier this year pledged to support standardise tobacco packaging, in an effort to help people stop smoking.

Public Health Minister Michael Matheson also set a target to reduce the number of smokers in Scotland from 23% to 5% by 2034.

Source: BBC

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‘Protect your baby’

Dr Paul Cosford, director for health protection and medical director at Public Health England, said: “Rotavirus is a highly infectious and unpleasant illness that affects thousands of young children each year.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

The best way to protect your baby from catching rotavirus is to get them vaccinated”

Dr Paul Cosford,Public Health England

“While most recover within a few days, nearly one in five will need to see their doctor, and one in 10 will end up in hospital as a result.”

He added: “Although good hygiene measures can help prevent spread of the disease, the best way to protect your baby from catching rotavirus is to get them vaccinated.

“The new vaccine will provide protection to those young babies who are most vulnerable to complications arising from rotavirus.

“From now on, parents will be offered this protection alongside their baby’s other childhood vaccinations.”

Further new vaccinations against shingles, meningococcal C and flu will be introduced later this year.

Source: BBC

Babies to be offered vomiting bug vaccine.

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An extra vaccination is to be offered to babies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to protect them against a vomiting and diarrhoea bug.

Rotavirus infection is the most common cause of gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhoea) in children under five._68442595_oralvaccine

Nearly every child currently gets the condition by the time they are five.

But experts hope the oral vaccine, given to babies at two and three months old, will halve the number of cases seen annually.

The bug currently accounts for 130,000 visits to the GP and 13,000 hospital visits for dehydration every year.

Scotland introduced a rotavirus vaccine in May.

‘Protect your baby’

Dr Paul Cosford, director for health protection and medical director at Public Health England, said: “Rotavirus is a highly infectious and unpleasant illness that affects thousands of young children each year.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

The best way to protect your baby from catching rotavirus is to get them vaccinated”

Dr Paul Cosford,Public Health England

“While most recover within a few days, nearly one in five will need to see their doctor, and one in 10 will end up in hospital as a result.”

He added: “Although good hygiene measures can help prevent spread of the disease, the best way to protect your baby from catching rotavirus is to get them vaccinated.

“The new vaccine will provide protection to those young babies who are most vulnerable to complications arising from rotavirus.

“From now on, parents will be offered this protection alongside their baby’s other childhood vaccinations.”

Further new vaccinations against shingles, meningococcal C and flu will be introduced later this year.

Source: BBC

India unveils first indigenous rotavirus vaccine.

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Rotavirus responsible for approximately 4,53,000 child deaths due to diarrhoea globally each year

The Phase-III clinical trial of low cost Indian-made rotavirus vaccine Rotavac has demonstrated strong efficacy and excellent safety profile and if approved by the Drugs Controller General of India, it would be available at Rs. 54 per dose.

This vaccine, developed under a public-private partnership, will be the third to hit the Indian market, but will be more affordable than the two vaccines now available costing more than Rs. 1,000 per dose.

The clinical study has demonstrated for the first time that Rotavac is efficacious in preventing severe rotavirus diarrhoea in low-resource settings in India, and developing countries in Asia and Africa. Strain diversity, too, has not apparently affected its efficacy.

Rotavirus is responsible for approximately 4,53,000 child deaths due to diarrhoea globally each year. It is particularly threatening in India where — according to a recent study — around 1,00,000 children die each year from severe diarrhoea and dehydration caused by rotavirus.

India accounts for 22 per cent of the estimated global deaths from diarrhoea-causing rotavirus.

Rotavac is an oral vaccine and is administered to infants in a three-dose course at the ages of 6, 10 and 14 weeks.

It is given alongside routine immunisations in the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) vaccines recommended at these ages.

“Once sanitation and drinking water supply in the country improves, the efficacy of the vaccine is bound to go up. Rotavirus is also associated with gut infection and the vaccine is known to give ‘herd immunity.’ Even if 25 per cent infection is prevented, it will mean a substantial public health gain,” said M.K. Bhan, former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology.

“This is an important scientific breakthrough against rotavirus infections. Clinical results indicate that the vaccine, if licensed, could save the lives of thousands of children each year in India,” K. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, said.

The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase-III clinical trial enrolled 6,799 infants in India (aged six to seven weeks at the time of enrolment) at three sites — the Centre for Health Research and Development, Society for Applied Sciences, in New Delhi; Shirdi Sai Baba Rural Hospital, KEM Hospital Research centre in Vadu; and Christian Medical College in Vellore.

Infants received Rotavac and the UIP vaccines, including the oral polio vaccine (OPV).

Result showed that infants receiving OPV at the same time as Rotavac generated comparable immune responses to all three polio serotypes as the infants receiving OPV without Rotavac, supporting the concurrent administration of OPV and Rotavac.


Source: The Hindu

Rotavirus immunisation in England.

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Over the course of 2013-14, England’s NHS will introduce a new national vaccination programme for Rotavirus for babies. The vaccine (Rotarix) will be given to babies at two months of age, followed by a second dose at three months of age. Rotavirus is a virus that causes gastroenteritis, leading to diarrhoea and vomiting, in particular in infants and young children. Almost all children have had a Rotavirus infection by the time they are 5 years old, with the maximum risk of infection occurring at around one year of age. Many children with Rotavirus infection will have mild symptoms and will be managed by their parents without needing medical treatment but around 130,000 children will see their general practitioner each year because of Rotavirus infection and around 12,700 children will be admitted to hospital. The new vaccination programme should substantially reduce both the number of children infected with Rotavirus and the number of children admitted to hospital each year. Early studies suggest that the vaccine is safe as well as being effective in preventing  Rotavirus infections and its complications. My research group will be monitoring the impact of the new vaccine on GP consultation rates for gastroenteritis in children and also on hospital admissions.
source: BMJ