Rotavirus may lead to systemic infection in kids, says study
Recent study postulated that Rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children, may lead to systemic infection not just infection confined to the intestines, unlike the previous assumption, according to which 'the virus was restricted to the gastrointestinal tract.' The finding hinted that children may carry and pass on the bug even if they don't have diahhrea.
Researchers tested blood samples obtained from children with gastroenteritis, that is, 57 youngsters with stools that were rotavirus-positive and 41 with rotavirus-negative stools, 58 children with bronchiolitis (a respiratory tract infection) of known viral origin, 17 with bronchiolitis of unknown viral origins, and 17 children with non-infectious conditions. They also tested 28 healthy adults.
They discovered that the antigen was in the blood of 51 of the 57 children with rotavirus-positive stools, in 8 of 9 in children without diarrhea but with rotavirus-positive stool, in 2 of 17 kids with bronchiolitis of unknown viral cause without gastroenteritis and in 5 of 41 children with gastroenteritis but with negative stools.
According to a scholar, the virus is spread by the fecal-oral route. For instance, young kids who didn't properly wash their hands after toileting may play with a ball at school, contaminate it, and give the ball to another child, who may lick the ball and become infected.
Mary Beth Koslap-Petraco, a certified pediatric nurse practitioner in the Suffolk County Department of Health Services for Long Island, N.Y has suggested using waterless cleaners to help kill rotavirus. A vaccine, given to infants, is also available to protect against the bug. Parents should ask their doctor about the vaccine and for details on when rotavirus is circulating in their region of the country.
