Rotavirus - Facts, Signs And Symptoms

Facts

• The name rotavirus is derived from the Latin rota, meaning “wheel” because of its characteristic wheel-like appearance.
• Rotaviruses are nonenveloped, double-shelled viruses. The genome is composed of 11 segments of double-stranded RNA, which code for six structural and five nonstructural proteins. The virus is stable in the environment.
• They are 70 nm icosahedral viruses that belong to the family Reoviridae.
• Rotavirus infection is an infection of the digestive tract that causes severe diarrhea, usually with fever and vomitting.
• There are a number of different strains of rotavirus than cause severe diarrhea (gastroenteritis) in humans.
• Children aged 3 months to 2 years have the highest risk of getting the infection.
• Virtually all children become infected with rotavirus in the first 3 to 5 years of life, but severe diarrhea and dehydration occur mainly among children aged 3 to 35 months.
• Adults infected with rotavirus have few or non symptoms at all.
• There is no cure to a rotavirus infection.
• Rotavirus causes seasonal peaks of gastroenteritis from November to May each year while tropical countries receive a all-year-round exposure.
• Children can be infected with rotavirus more than once, but usually the first infection is most severe.
• Though the rotavirus is not always deadly, it is the dehydration that proves fatal in infants.
• Breastfeeding can lower the risk of getting infected with rotavirus or reduce the risk of severe diarrhea should the child get infected. The child has to continue to be breastfed to reduce the risks.
• Blood or stool samples will have to be taken to determine if the virus is present.

Signs And Symptoms

• Usually starts with fever, vomitting and abdominal cramps then watery diarrhea. The infected child may also have a cough or runny nose before the onset of the diarrhea and vomitting symptoms.
• The watery diarrhea can be mild to severe and will last for 3 to 9 days.
• Severe diarrhea can lead to dehydration. Signs of dehydration include thirst, restlessness, sleepiness, lethargy (unresponsive or won’t make eye contact), irritability, sunken eyes, dry mouth and tongue, dry skin, fewer trips to the toilet to urinate and darker urine.
• For babies, due to dehydration, the diaper is dry for several hours.
• It takes about 2-3 days for symptoms to appear.

Picture courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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