Timely Vaccination Important to Help Protect Infants Against Rotavirus Disease!

August is National Immunization Awareness Month, a great time to remind people about the importance of getting vaccinated. While parents with school-aged children often receive reminders to get their children vaccinated through back-to-school announcements, parents may also need reminders to get their newborns vaccinated. Infectious disease experts agree that vaccination can help prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis, a leading cause of severe acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children that may lead to severe dehydration and hospitalization. Severity of rotavirus disease can be unpredictable, and ranges from asymptomatic disease to severe, dehydrating gastroenteritis. Nearly all children get infected with rotavirus before the age of five, many more than once. David Nelson, M.D., Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Chief of Ambulatory Services at Georgetown University Hospital, discusses this potentially serious disease and how parents can help protect their children by discussing rotavirus vaccination with their infant’s health care provider. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that infants receive the oral rotavirus vaccination during routine infant well-care visits at two, four and six months of age to help protect against rotavirus disease. In the U.S., rotavirus is responsible for an estimated 55,000-70,000 hospitalizations, more than 200,000 emergency room visits and approximately 400,000 visits to doctor’s offices per year among children under five RotaTeq is the only rotavirus vaccine available in the U.S. and is indicated for the prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants and children. It was specifically designed to help prevent rotavirus disease caused by common circulating serotypes G1, G2, G3 and G4, which have been responsible for approximately 90 percent of rotavirus disease in the U.S. Prescribing information for RotaTeq is available at http://www.RotaTeq.com