Rotavirus is a gastrointestinal disease that causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, ranging anywhere from three to eight days. While older children and adults can become infected with the disease, it is most common in infants and younger children. Especially if a child has the illness for several days, they can become severely dehydrated, which can cause a range of problems including death.
Rotavirus in an infected child.
The Rotavirus vaccine was first introduced in 2006. Within six years of the vaccine being administered, the numbers of rotavirus cases have significantly decreased. Before the vaccine was distributed, sixteen children out of every 10,000 contracted the illness. Within the couple years after the vaccine began to be distributed, this number went down to five to six children out of every 10,000. Vaccine coverage was the highest in the year of 2012, and the number went down to one child out of every 10,000.
Because the illness can cause such severe dehydration, it can lead to death. It is estimated that half a million children died worldwide each year from the rotavirus before the vaccine was introduced. The deaths aren’t as common in the United States because our resources are usually more abundant. However, the disease is still devastating, especially in countries that don’t have the vaccine or the resources of the United States.
The vaccine is for infants between one and six months and has proven effective at reducing the number of cases of rotavirus each year. It is estimated that before the vaccine was introduced, the cases of rotavirus were higher, but they weren’t tested for as often.
