Rotavirus
Why can rotavirus be so serious?
Rotavirus is a very unpredictable infection, as it can be mild, moderate or severe in any given child.1 In other words, there is no way to predict which children will be affected with severe cases of it.
However, children infected with rotavirus are more likely to suffer from severe dehydration compared to infection with other viruses, because of the profuse diarrhea, vomiting and fever caused by rotavirus.5 If an infant develops a severe case of rotavirus gastroenteritis, the number of vomiting or diarrhea episodes may make it very difficult to keep enough fluids in him or her.2 If this happens, hospitalization may be necessary to prevent life-threatening dehydration.2
For up to 78% of infants hospitalized for diarrhea, the cause is rotavirus infection.3
Hospitalized children with rotavirus infection were more likely to need intravenous (IV) fluids to treat dehydration than those who had gastroenteritis from another cause.3,8
The most serious cases occur in children between the ages of 6 and 35 months.1-4
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