Sick baby care

• Call your baby's provider if you think your baby is sick.
• Keep medical supplies on hand at home.
• Ask someone to take care of your baby if you're sick.

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Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in infants and young children. It is highly contagious. Almost all children get infected by the age of 3. Your baby can catch rotavirus at any time of year, but it is most common from November to May. A child usually picks up this virus by putting her fingers in her mouth after touching something contaminated with the stool of an infected person.
The child may develop watery diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting. Nausea and fever usually go away in about two days, but diarrhea can last up to eight days. Antibiotics do not work against rotavirus infection.

The main concern with rotavirus is preventing dehydration. Dehydration is a large loss of water from body tissues. It can occur when a person loses lots of fluid from diarrhea.

A child can get rotavirus infection more than once. But repeat bouts of the illness tend to be milder than the first.

Call your baby's health care provider right away if the baby:

• Has watery diarrhea
• Has nausea and vomiting
• Develops any fever of more than 100.4° F in the first 3 months of life, 101° F or greater between 3 and 6 months, or 103° F after 6 months of age

Follow the provider's instructions about what your child should eat and drink. The provider probably will advise you to give your child a solution to replace the salts and water that are lost with diarrhea. Common ones include Pedialyte, Infalyte and ReVital.

Call your provider immediately or take your baby to the emergency room if she has any signs of dehydration including:

• No wet diapers for several hours
• Dry mouth
• Lack of tears when crying
• Increased thirst
• Sunken soft spot on top of the head or sunken eyes
• Irritability or lethargy

Some children who become dehydrated need to have fluids replaced through a vein (intravenously) in the hospital.

Teach your child to wash her hands thoroughly after using the bathroom and before eating. This may help prevent rotavirus and other infections that can cause diarrhea. Make sure everyone who touches your baby has washed his or her hands.

Vaccine for Rotavirus

Until recently, there was little you could do to prevent rotavirus infection in your baby or toddler. In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new vaccine called RotaTeq to help prevent rotavirus infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended that this vaccine be added to the schedule of immunizations for all babies. RotaTeq is not the same rotavirus vaccine that was withdrawn from the market in 1999 because it appeared to contribute to rare intestinal blockages.

RotaTeq vaccine is given to babies at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. Ask your baby's health care provider whether your baby should be vaccinated.

If your baby receives the RotaTeq vaccine, contact your her health care provider if she has any of these symptoms after being vaccinated:

• Stomach pain
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Blood in the stool
• Change in bowel movements

February 2007