Rotavirus infection is an intestinal infection with symptoms of severe diarrhea, vomiting, fever and dehydration. It is thought that almost all children have this disease by the age of 5. The disease is mostly seen in winter and spring. The virus, which is the causative agent of the disease, can be transmitted from sick individuals to healthy individuals very easily by contact. The virus is excreted in the feces of the sick individual between a few days before symptoms and a few days after recovery.
It causes a more severe disease in children between 3 months and 24 months. In babies younger than 3 months, antibodies passed from the mother through the placenta or breast milk can protect the baby.
Disease; It causes mild or moderate fever and vomiting symptoms, usually a few days after the microbe enters the body. This usually lasts about 2 days. In the following days, it continues with significant diarrhea, and in most patients, this picture can last up to 5-7 days.
In addition to clinical symptoms, help can be obtained from laboratory tests, which can be widely performed in our country, to detect the causative agent in the stool.
Although there is no specific treatment, the most important element in the treatment is the prevention of dehydration that may develop in the child and its treatment if it develops. There is absolutely no benefit to using antibiotics. Products containing probiotics may be partially beneficial in mild and moderate cases. In case of fluid loss, the patient must be supported with appropriate fluids, both orally and intravenously.
Although the disease may recur, especially in the first 5 years of life, subsequent infections have a milder course than the first.
>The most important element in protecting against the disease is paying attention to hygiene rules. There is also a vaccine given during infancy. The vaccine is administered orally to the baby in a total of 2 or 3 doses, starting when the baby is 6 weeks old at the earliest and 15 weeks old at the latest.
Read: 0
