How to get rid of rotavirus
Rotavirus: Treating and Avoiding Dehyrdation
for any parents few things are as
stressful as a trip to the emergency
room now imagine being told your infant
has a virus you've never heard of
millions of parents deal with a
mysterious sounding illness that is
actually more common than you think
rotavirus it strikes nearly every child
before the age of four and ultimately
kills more than 1,000 children a day
worldwide in the United States
approximately 30 children die every year
in the US rotavirus is the number one
cause of severe diarrhea among children
but when this mother of three had to
take two of her children to the
emergency room the same weekend
she had never even heard of rotavirus
the daycare called me at work and asked
me to come and pick Ryan up because he
had thrown up twice and he was kind of
listless he's had flu and colds before
but this was pretty serious Ryan who was
four years old at the time was
hospitalized for three days so that
intravenous lines could counter the
effects of dehydration a day after he
was admitted his sister Amira began
having the same problems because it's
very contagious
doctors had predicted this it's been
found that children can spread rotavirus
both before and after they have symptoms
despite our best efforts young children
will not wipe or they'll do something
and immediately put their fingers in
their mouth in any emergency room it's
the issue of fluid loss that is critical
here in the emergency room patients come
in and they're evaluated by our triage
nurse and their degree of hydration or
dehydration is assessed and the nurses
are looking at not only their vital
signs but how many wet diapers they've
made in the last 24 hours how well
they're drinking if they're drinking if
they're lethargic if their mouths are
dry and that'll give the triage nurse
some idea of
how sick they are kids who experience
the most problems with rotavirus
diarrhea are usually ages three to
thirty five months old illness from
rotavirus usually starts with a fever an
upset stomach and vomiting followed by
diarrhea the diarrhea can be mild to
severe and generally will last three to
nine days doctors say the virus is
seasonal which means most cases of
rotavirus occur between November and May
in the United States it begins to occur
in the southwest and fall and then it
sort of marches across the country
ending up in the Northeast in late
winter or early spring the reason people
haven't heard of rotavirus is unlike say
strep throat where the doctor actually
tests for it does a culture and says Oh
your child has strep routinely it isn't
tested for dr. Margaret Reynolds
professor of pediatrics at the
University of Maryland School of
Medicine has done a great deal of
research on rotavirus because it's so
common and hard to prevent she says it's
important parents and caregivers know
how to treat the symptoms bring the
fever down to make the child more
comfortable the most important thing is
make sure the child does not get
dehydrated if indeed they can't get
their child to drink and they think that
their child's becoming dehydrated then
they need to go to the emergency room
signs of dehydration include a decrease
in urination if you are changing diapers
less than six times a day there may be
cause for concern
also look for sunken eyes no tears when
the child cries extreme thirst unusual
drowsiness or fussiness and a dry sticky
mouth the best fluids to give children
with diarrhea are oral rehydration
solutions that can be found in nearly
all drug stores and grocery stores
because it's a viral illness rotavirus
does not respond to antibiotics it will
run its course frequent hand washing and
disinfecting can help
limit the spread having children wear
clothes over diapers can also help there
are a number of viral illnesses that
commonly cause diarrhea in children
if dehydration is treated the children
normally do fine it's a different matter
when diarrhea is a symptom of certain
forms of bacterial food poisoning some
foods are known to harbor
disease-causing bacteria under cooked
ground beef has been linked to deadly
ecoli outbreaks so it's best not to
serve children hamburgers pink in the
center ecoli infection has also been
linked to contaminated lettuce
unpasteurized milk and cider and
untreated water
pasteurization ensures safety so be sure
to purchase pasteurized milk and cider
and wash all produce and meats foods
involving eggs that are improperly
handled or left out are a common cause
of salmonella poisoning always
refrigerate egg based products like
mayonnaise dressings and it's best not
to serve children runny or uncooked eggs
often milder forms of diarrhea are
related to new or rich foods or a food
allergy in many of these cases a change
in diet may do the trick
