What is Rotavirus?
Rotavirus infection is one of the most common causes of acute-onset diarrhea in children aged 4 to 5 years.
How Is It Transmitted?
Rotaviruses are also abundant in feces in the days before diarrhea occurs. Infection; It happens with water and food contaminated with feces (dish). Outbreaks can occur, especially in nurseries, nursing homes and children’s hospitals. Domestic spread is common.
The disease most commonly affects children between the ages of 4-5 who stay in nursery and nursing homes.
What are the Symptoms?
The main symptoms usually begin with fever and vomiting following the incubation period, which lasts less than 48 hours. Frequent, watery, especially bad-smelling bloodless diarrhea is added to the symptoms. Diarrhea can last 5 to 7 days. Especially in infants, dehydration may develop due to vomiting and diarrhea. The disease shows a longer and more severe course in patients with insufficient immune system.
How Is It Diagnosed?
Since it is not possible to distinguish the disease from diarrhea due to other pathogens clinically in rotavirus infection, the diagnosis can be made by microbiological examination. However, since the standard approach is rehydration and supportive therapy in cases and the diagnosis will not change this treatment, microbiological diagnosis is not necessary in most cases.
Laboratory diagnosis is essentially required for reliable surveillance. The diagnosis of not all cases, but a sufficient number of cases can be targeted to collect epidemiological data. It can also be tested for laboratory verification for differential diagnosis in complicated cases with prolonged diarrhea and in hosts with immunodeficiency. Diagnosis also prevents the use of unnecessary antibiotic treatments in the clinic.
Since rotavirus is excreted in high amounts in the stools of children with diarrhea, stool sample is preferred for diagnosis. The methods used primarily in diagnosis are tests based on detecting antigenic structures.
How is it treated?
The main purpose of treatment is; Vomiting is the prevention of dehydration that may occur due to diarrhea. Nutrition should be continued, if possible, should be fed gradually at frequent intervals. Low-fat foods should be preferred, especially breastfeeding should not be interrupted. Newborn babies and children under 3 months are protected from infection by antibodies that pass from the mother, and they may have a milder disease.
People who show signs of illness should immediately consult a physician.
What are the Ways of Protection?
General hygiene measures reduce contamination. Hand washing helps isolation of infected cases and prevent hospital-induced diarrhea in hospitals. The virus is excreted with feces until 10 – 12 days after the onset of the symptoms.
Vaccine is applied against rota virus. Ideal vaccination should begin between the 2nd and 3rd month.
Who is in the Risk Group?
In terms of illness, children attending a nursery or nursing home and pediatric patients treated in a children’s hospital are in the risk group.
