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Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

| CWK Producer

Three-year-old Abigail Wolinski is fighting a stomach flu- a common ailment in children, often caused by a bug called rotavirus.

“It’s very contagious, so once one child in a daycare center or any sort of childcare center has it, others will catch it very easily,” says Dr. Vivian Lennon of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Rotavirus causes severe vomiting and diarrhea, which can leave an infant or toddler dangerously dehydrated.

The virus used to send 200 thousand kids to the emergency room every year and it caused another 55 thousand kids to be hospitalized.

“Now that we have a vaccine for rotavirus it’s a preventable childhood disease!” says Dr. Lennon.

The Federal Advisory Panel now recommends infants get three doses of the vaccine orally at 2, 4 and 6 months of age.

“It essentially produces an immune response, or an anti-body response, in the child’s bowel,” explains Dr. Umesh Parashar of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “which would prevent against infection and disease caused by this agent.”

Since the vaccine was introduced, the CDC reports the number of kids needing medical care for the virus has dropped 80 percent.

And a drug company study finds a 100 percent drop in emergency room visits from rotavirus.

Experts say, if your pediatrician doesn’t recommend the vaccination parents should ask about it.

“Any kind of vaccine that would help your child get better, or make sure they don’t get some kind of stomach virus, is probably a good thing,” says dad, Rahul Karnani.

Tips for Parents

Gastroenteritis, also known as “stomach flu,” is an inflammation of the stomach and the small and large intestines.  Viral gastroenteritis is an infection caused by a variety of viruses that results in vomiting or diarrhea.  The most common viruses are rotavirus, the leading cause of gastroenteritis in children, and Norwalk virus, which peaks during the winter and often affects school-aged children. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus causes about 40% of group-related diarrhea-related illnesses.  Gastroenteritis occurs when germs are taken in through the mouth in any of the following ways:
 

• Person to person, either directly by close personal contact or contact with the feces of an infected person, or indirectly by touching contaminated surfaces, such as faucets, toilet flush handles, children’s toys or diapers
• Eating contaminated food
• Drinking contaminated water
• Airborne through vomiting, coughing and sneezing

How can you determine if your child is suffering from gastroenteritis?  The Harvard Medical School cites the following symptoms associated with the illness:

• Mild diarrhea
• Abdominal pain
• Cramps
• Vomiting
• Irritability (fussiness)
• Poor appetite

If you observe these symptoms in your child, contact you physician for an evaluation.  Your child’s doctor will likely ask you the following questions to make a diagnosis of gastroenteritis:

• Has your child been exposed to an adult or child with diarrhea, especially in a day-care center or preschool setting?
• Has your child played with a pet that is ill with gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea?
• Has your child touched pet reptiles?  Reptiles, especially pet turtles, sometimes carry salmonella bacteria.
• Has your child recently traveled to a developing country or been in any location where the drinking water is not tested routinely or been near potentially contaminated streams, lakes or swimming holes in the United States?
• Has your child recently drunk unpasteurized milk or apple cider, eaten unwashed vegetables or eaten food that was left standing at room temperature for prolonged periods?

Children almost always recover from gastroenteritis without any long-term problems.  However, it can be a serious illness for those who are unable to drink enough fluids to replace what they lose through vomiting and diarrhea.  Infants, young children and those who are disabled or elderly are at risk for dehydration from loss of fluid.  The American College of Gastroenterology offers the following strategies for helping your child cope with the illness:

• To prevent dehydration, encourage your child to drink plenty of fluids.  Your doctor may recommend a particular brand of over-the-counter oral rehydration solution in addition to breast milk, formula or milk.  In general, these solutions are better than soft drinks, fruit juice or other sweetened beverages, which usually have too many carbohydrates and too little sodium to restore normal fluid balance in children with gastroenteritis.
• If your child is too nauseated to drink his or her normal intake of fluids at one sitting, try offering several smaller sips more frequently over a longer period.
• Once your child’s vomiting subsides, resume a normal diet gradually while continuing the oral rehydration solution.  Begin with lean meats and complex carbohydrates, such as rice, potatoes and bread.  Temporarily avoid fatty foods and sugary beverages.  If your child is breast-feeding, resume nursing as soon as possible.
• Do not give your child anti-diarrhea medicines without checking with your doctor first.  These medicines can interfere with the intestine’s ability to pass harmful viruses, bacteria, parasites and toxins out of the body through the stool.
• Have your child rest in bed until symptoms subside.  Do not allow your child to return to school until diarrhea has begun to improve.

The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta says that you can help prevent the spread of infection through good hand-washing and hygiene, the proper disposal of dirty diapers and the proper disinfection of changing tables, toys and food preparation areas. 

References

• American College of Gastroenterology
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
• Harvard Medical School
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• World Health Organization

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