Can Rotavirus Cause Injury and/or Death?
There is a gap in medical knowledge in terms of predicting who will have a mild case of rotavirus and who will have a life-threatening or even fatal case of this disease. Most children need only rest and fluids to recover from rotavirus. However, untreated dehydration from loss of fluids and electrolytes can cause death. That is why it is important to make sure that your child has plenty of fluids when he/she is sick with any kind of severe diarrhea and is taken to a hospital if there is change in consciousness (excessive sleep or unresponsiveness), high or persistent fever, vomiting, failure to eat, drink or urinate, and other signs that your child may be dehydrated and in need of re-hydration therapy. How Many Children Are Hospitalized or Die from Rotavirus in the U.S.? According to the CDC in 1999, rotavirus was causing 20 to 40 infant deaths annually in the US when the first rotavirus vaccine, RotaShield, was introduced. It was estimated that about 50,000 hospitalizations occurred
