DOT Desk
The Rotavirus Organisation of Technical Allies council in a report said that about 2.4 million children, mostly aged between 3 months and 2 years, became infected with rotavirus each year in Bangladesh, reports The New Age.
Medical experts said that rotavirus was the most fatal of the four viruses and bacteria-responsible for diarrhoeal diseases. Patients could die unless quick treatment was ensured.
The World Health Organisation recommended a two or three-dose vaccination depending on types of rotavirus vaccine, at six and 10 or 14 weeks to tie in with other routine vaccinations.
Vaccination was the best tool available today to protect children from rotavirus. Rotavirus vaccines were improving health, reducing healthcare costs, and saving lives in countries where they were in use.
‘Rotavirus is a leading cause of severe diarrhoeal disease and dehydration in infants and young children and can cause mild illness, hospitalisation and even death. The symptoms usually occur two to three days after infection.
The children are mostly affected with severe watery diarrhoea, projectile vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain,’ director of Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research Meerjady Sabrina Flora said.
There was no specific treatment for rotavirus infection, although oral rehydration therapy was recommended to prevent dehydration, she added.
It was responsible for nearly two-thirds of all diarrhoea-related hospitalisations under the age of five and fifty per cent of all rotavirus hospitalisations were among infants aged between six to 11 months, senior scientific officer of IEDCR A S M Alamgir said.
The experts said that the treatment for this particular type of diarrhoea was totally different than other diarrhoeal diseases.
There were some problems regarding the rotavirus vaccine and its viruses constantly changed and mutated, which was almost uncommon in other viruses.
According to the study IEDCR, the severity of rotavirus was still high in Bangladesh, though impact of other diarrhoeal diseases had reduced significantly in the recent days.
The affected children were found even in the posh localities apart from slum and rural areas. Normally, it entered into the body through the mouth and then infected the linings of the intestines.
The virus could easily be spread through contaminated hands and objects, such as toys and diapers, according to the experts.
There were two different rotavirus vaccines. Both were administered by putting vaccine drops in an infant’s mouth, they added.