Can Adults Get Rotavirus?
Can Adults Get Rotavirus?A readers asks:”My granddaughters were very ill with this virus last week — one having to go to the hospital. I helped out for a few days but came down with the same syptoms this weekend. I am 66 years of age. I have had diarrhea for the last 34 hours. I’ve tried Kaopectate with no real results so far. Any ideas for me and is it possibly the same virus?”Answer: According to the Food and Drug Administration, “Humans of all ages are susceptible to rotavirus infection.” In fact, children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are even more susceptible that the rest of the population. In adults, they call this infection viral gastroenteritis. It’s difficult to control the spread of infection when you are dealing with sick children, like you were with your granddaughters. It takes somewhere between 10 and 100 particles to infect a person. But those who are sick can secrete over 1000 virus particles in just one milliliter of fecal matter, according t
