How is rotavirus caused

Rotavirus is a very common virus in infants and young children and is one of the main causes of diarrhea in children. The main mode of transmission of rotavirus is fecal-oral or oral-oral transmission, and it may also be transmitted through water sources or the respiratory tract. Only after understanding these transmission routes can we better prevent infants and young children from being infected with rotavirus. Next, I will introduce you to some relevant knowledge about rotavirus!

What causes rotavirus?

Rotavirus is one of the main pathogens that cause diarrhea in infants and young children. It mainly infects small intestinal epithelial cells, causing cell damage and causing diarrhea. Rotavirus is prevalent in summer, autumn and winter every year. The route of infection is fecal-oral. The clinical manifestations are acute gastroenteritis and osmotic diarrhea. The course of the disease is generally 7 days, with fever lasting for 3 days, vomiting for 2 to 3 days, diarrhea for 5 days, and severe dehydration symptoms.

How rotavirus is spread

It is mainly transmitted through fecal-oral or oral-oral routes, and can also be transmitted through water sources or the respiratory tract. Rotavirus diarrhea in adults often presents as water-based outbreaks. Because rotavirus is relatively stable in the environment and is not easy to die naturally, it can also be transmitted through daily contact. Neonatal rotavirus infection mainly comes from maternal infection, birth canal infection and hospital infection. Rotavirus infection can be spread in hospitals by nursing staff.

Clinical manifestations of rotavirus

Rotavirus diarrhea can range from asymptomatic, mild illness to severe illness with life-threatening gastroenteritis, dehydration, and electrolyte imbalance. Symptoms of rotavirus diarrhea include fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloodless watery diarrhea. The diarrhea is white rice soup-like or yellow-green egg drop-like watery stool with a foul odor and does not contain blood or mucus. Symptoms may last 3-9 days. In addition to gastrointestinal symptoms, recent studies have found that rotavirus can cause many other diseases. In some cases, liver function damage may occur to varying degrees. Rotavirus can even pass through the gastrointestinal barrier and cause viremia.

Rotavirus prevention methods

1. Promote breastfeeding and add complementary foods appropriately.

2. Develop good hygiene habits, such as washing hands with soap before and after meals, washing and boiling bottles and utensils before use, paying attention to drinking water hygiene, and not drinking raw water. Wash fruits and vegetables before eating them raw, and use fly covers to prevent flies and cockroaches from biting and crawling on your food.

3. Strictly implement the Food Hygiene Law and ensure food hygiene in collective children's units.

4. Do a good job in disinfection and isolation of diarrhea patients to prevent the spread of the disease.

4. Vaccine prevention.