According to Xinmin Evening News, "Doctor, the child has been diarrhea these two days and has to get more than ten times a day. Is it because the weather is cold and eating is broken?" Now it is getting colder, and many parents are worried about their children's diarrhea problems.
Director Cao Qing of the Department of Infection of Children's Medical Center Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University said that some diarrhea is not ordinary gastroenteritis . Infectious diarrhea in autumn is mostly caused by viruses, and more than 90% of the children encounter rotavirus diarrhea 1, a. Since rotavirus diarrhea is classified as a Class C infectious disease 1 and is highly contagious 2, parents urgently need to pay attention to disease protection.

Cao Qing
Children's Medical Center affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University
Children's diarrhea is very harmful
Rotavirus is one of the culprits 3
Autumn and winter is the peak season for children's virus infection. In addition to respiratory infection , gastrointestinal infection cannot be ignored. In China, rotavirus infection is obviously seasonal, with a high incidence of 4,b every autumn and winter. Cao Qing said: "However, rotavirus infection can be detected in clinical practice throughout the year, so parents need to pay attention to protection throughout the year and must not take it lightly."
It is reported that rotavirus is the primary cause of severe dehydrated diarrhea in children under 5 years old around the world3. Almost every child aged 3-5 has been infected with rotavirus 6. Studies have shown that the younger the child, the more severe the condition after infection. Among them, 6 months to 2 years old is the highest and most severe age group. "Rotavirus belongs to the Reovirus family. After infants and young children have different clinical manifestations, the main symptoms are gastrointestinal symptoms. 6,8." Cao Qing pointed out, "The typical symptoms of rotavirus infection include diarrhea, vomiting, fever, etc. 6,8. Diarrhea is a watery stool that does not contain blood, usually lasts for 3 to 8 days, and can have diarrhea 10 to 20 times a day; 80% to 90% of babies will vomit; half of babies will have fever9. Research shows that rotavirus diarrhea is more likely to cause dehydration, which is the severity of rotavirus diarrhea. Once infants and young children experience severe dehydration, if not treated in time, it may even lead to death for 10 days."

Cao Qing emphasized: "Rotavirus infection is often accompanied by some Intestinal manifestations. I have encountered convulsions in the child in clinical practice. In addition, rotavirus may invade myocardium, central nervous system , respiratory tract and other parts, and may even enter the blood, causing systemic infections of 11, 12. In addition, if infants and young children experience diarrhea repeatedly within 2 years of birth, it may affect growth and development and cognitive function. "
virus is cunning and cannot prevent it.
Infants and young children may also be infected at home. Rotavirus is mainly transmitted through the fecal oral route. Infants and young children especially like to eat toys and items, and they may "eat" the virus 14 if they inadvertently. Rotavirus can also be transmitted through respiratory droplets and close contact between people. After being infected with rotavirus, it has viral contagiousness regardless of whether it has symptoms or not. Since there may be many rotavirus " asymptomatic infected persons " in public, they may spread the virus through the above channels. Rotavirus is very cunning, acid-resistant and alkali-resistant 8. It is difficult for ordinary disinfectants and hand sanitizer to completely remove it 16. Studies have shown that rotavirus can survive in hands for several hours or on the surface of objects for several days.

"Like kindergartens, schools, and hospitals, these places are very prone to rotavirus infection." Cao Qing said: "Our infant caregivers may also transmit the virus to children. For some young newborns, they rarely go out and may still be infected with rotavirus in the family environment. For example, because the child's caregiver is asymptomatic infected person of the virus, they do not have good hand hygiene before taking care of the child, and bring the virus through kissing, hugging, and contact. Give the child 15. "
There is currently no specific medicine
Vaccination is the best way to prevent rotavirus
Cao Qing mentioned that we currently do not have special medicine for rotavirus diarrhea. Doctors can only provide symptomatic treatment methods such as oral rehydration salt or infusion to solve the problem of dehydration in children 6.Moreover, rotavirus has multiple strains. Even if the infection is cured once, it is still possible to re-infect other different strains of 18. WHO recommends that vaccination is the best way to prevent rotavirus infection 19. Babies should get the rotavirus vaccine 6 as soon as possible starting from 6 weeks of age, and early vaccination and early protection.

Why should I get vaccinated? Cao Qing introduced that through vaccination, the incidence of severe rotavirus can be reduced 11.
Cao Qing introduced that there are currently two types of rotavirus vaccines officially launched in my country: one is the domestic monovalent rotavirus vaccine, and the other is the imported pentavalent rotavirus vaccine 11.
"I would like to remind everyone that no matter which rotavirus vaccine, it has a clear applicable age. Once you miss it, you cannot re-eat it." Cao Qing emphasized that 6 months to 2 years old is the high incidence of rotavirus diarrhea 20, e. At this time, the antibodies from the mother in infants and young children have been minimized, and their gastrointestinal function and immune system development are not yet perfect. Therefore, they are in the susceptibility period of rotavirus. Parents should plan to discharge seedlings for their children as soon as possible before the first infection. There are many vaccines that newborns need to receive. It is recommended that parents go to the vaccination site in time to consult related matters when their children receive the second hepatitis B vaccine (1 month old).

Cao Qing said that young parents in Shanghai have relatively high acceptance and awareness of vaccines, and have a strong desire to prevent vaccination, but they still encounter some young parents in clinical practice, and they are very regretful that they did not vaccinate their children during the window period. At that time, "I didn't know that there was such a vaccine." She suggested that novices should know some vaccine knowledge before their children were born, and at the same time strengthen popular science education on vaccination. A small number of parents are confused about the side effects of vaccines and believe that if the second-class vaccine can be avoided, they will not be given. Cao Qing explained that this is not the case. Many of our country's second-class vaccines are 22, which are included in the conventional immunization program by the World Health Organization. Like the rotavirus vaccine, the World Health Organization recommends that all countries should include it in the national immunization program 6.
For the prevention of rotavirus, in addition to getting vaccinated as soon as possible within the appropriate age range, Cao Qing also recommends that breastfeeding 23, eating less raw and cold food, regularly disinfecting children's belongings and toys, paying attention to the gastrointestinal tract and hand hygiene of the caregiver, etc., can all help reduce the risk of infection and protect the baby from rotavirus.
Reference
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study found that rotavirus is an important pathogen that causes diarrhea in infants and young children under 5 years old in Suzhou. It is prone to dehydration symptoms clinically, and breastfeeding can reduce the incidence of the disease.
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e Research design: From 2008 to 2009, a total of 5,091 fecal specimens of children with acute nonbacterial dysentery-like diarrhea were randomly collected in outpatient clinics of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Tianjin. The clinical epidemic characteristics of norovirus and rotavirus diarrhea in urban children in my country were analyzed.
study results show that the detection rate of rotavirus is 30.7%, and the detection rate of norovirus in rotavirus-negative specimens is 29.7%. Children with rotavirus diarrhea have a age of 1 month-11.3 years, 92.5% of the children have a age of ≤2 years, and children with norovirus diarrhea have a age of 1 month-14 years, and 91.8% have a age of ≤2 years. The peak of the rotavirus epidemic is between October and February of the following year, and the norovirus epidemic season varies by region.
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This article was supported by Merck during the writing process. If you want to know more about disease knowledge, please consult a medical and health professional 09-2024-CN-ROT-01052