Give your baby a shot against Rotavirus

Diarrhea may seem like a common enough disease for infants but for 610,000 babies every year, it has resulted in deadly consequences.

And the culprit for so many infant deaths is the pathogen called rotavirus, the no. 1 cause of diarrhea and a highly contagious virus that has affected more than 95% of children worldwide.

Rotavirus disease infects virtually every child within the first five years of their life, regardless of race and socio-economic status. In the developing world, rotaviral diarrhea and vomiting kills 1 child every minute. “In the Philippines, at least 30 percent of diarrhea-related hospitalizations are caused by rotavirus -- a disease that claims the lives of 3,698 Filipino children each year. Of all diarrhea cases reported in the Philippines, 60 percent are rotaviral in origin for the 6-month to 2-years age group” said Dr. Jossie Rogacion, M.D., pediatric gastroenterologist, Associate Professor, University of the Philippines College of Medicine.

How do you know if your child has been infected by rotavirus? Symptoms include watery diarrhea, vomiting, fever abdominal pain and dehydration.

The virus usually spreads through the fecal-oral route. Infected persons shed large quantities of the virus in their stool two days before and up to 10 days after the illness. Children can then become infected if they put their fingers in their mouths after touching something that has been contaminated, like their toys or their cribs.

The first rotavirus infection is usually the most severe, and complications can lead to electrolyte imbalance, secondary bacterial infections, hospitalization, and for many, even death.

So what can you do to protect your baby from being infected by rotavirus? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination is actually the best strategy for disease prevention. While practicing better hygiene like frequent hand washing are encouraged, improved sanitation alone is not effective in preventing rotavirus infections.

This is because rotavirus can survive in the environment for a long time - for hours on hands and even days on solid surfaces – and it only takes a small amount of rotavirus particle to infect a child.

A live oral human attenuated rotavirus vaccine that offers protection against the most commonly circulating rotavirus types has recently been approved by the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). Licensed in more than 100 countries worldwide, the vaccine manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) works by simulating a rotavirus infection, prompting the production of antibodies, but removes the harmful symptoms of rotavirus gastroenteritis like fever, vomiting and diarrhea. In the Philippines, the live oral rotavirus vaccine is registered and approved by Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) and is the only two-dose rotavirus vaccine that provides early protection to infants by 3 months of age. Experts recommend getting your baby vaccinated before he is half a year old, since the peak incidence of rotavirus diarrhea occurs at 6 – 24 months.

Protect your baby against rotavirus diarrhea - ask your doctor about the two-dose oral rotavirus vaccine and give your baby a shot against rotavirus today.