Experience with Rotavirus?

Although we've never been diagnosed with RotaVirus (my daughter had the vaccine) we have been through the high fevers recently. She had 9 straight days of high fevers, the highest being 105.1. Keep him hydrated, give him popcicles, juice, fresh fruit...anything he'll accept. My baby ended up in the hospital for a few days. They never found out what she had, but she is doing well now.

Since the other two moms mentioned hospital stays I wanted to say my son had it and was not hospitalized. It is a very difficult illness to control though, especially for the younger ones. The most important thing to do is keep your son hydrated. Our pediatrician basically told us to keep giving him anything he would drink. My son wouldn't drink pedialite so we actually gave him Gatorade and Juicy Juice. It lasted longer than most other illnesses he ever had and is very contagious so lucky for you, you don't have another child who would most likely get it :)

Hi R.-
Sorry to hear your little one is sick. We went through this with my son at 13 months. He had also gotten the vaccine! They can pick up RV anywhere, it's microscopic, you shouldn't feel like a bad mom at all! I'm pretty sure my son got it from a shopping cart. My Dr. said DH and I could get it but it's much much milder in adults because we've been exposed to it more often throughout our lifetime. The main worry is dehydration, it happens so fast for little ones. If you can't get him to drink alot, try little sips from a teaspoon every few minutes. It sounds like a tiny amount but it adds up. If we had done this the nurse said we wouldn't have ended up at the hospital. My son spent 3 days there because of dehydration. I had no idea that teaspoons of pedialyte etc. could make such a big difference.
Good luck and I hope he's much better soon!

So Sorry you are going through it. It could be worse though. My son had it when he was 2 and I am pretty sure he got it from the shopping cart at the grocery store. He was puking and had the runs at the same time, we could hardly get him to the car to get him to the e.r. After some testing at the hospital they kept him there for 3 days in isolation. Adults can get it, but not nearly as easily as kids. Just keep washing your hands!
Good luck to you.

kids get it all the time - its not a big deal. My kids have had it and its not cause your kid is eating his poo as you put it. It just is heavily contagious so they all get it. Don't feel bad and good luck -- this too shall pass. He'll be fine.

Hi There.. My daughter had rota virus when she was 13 months. She could not keep anything down. It was either a vomit or coming out the other way. She was admitted to hospital and was on IV for two days. It was more because we were not aware and being first time parents did not know how to deal with this.

Our ped had suggested if we had put her on brat (Banana, rice, apple and toast) diet along with pedialyte for couple of days she would have been fine. I will find out what t stands for.

Best thing keep him hydrated ..he will be fine.

Best Luck

V.

Hi Rooxann,
My daughter had Rotavirus when she was 2(she is 4 now). It is contagious and she had to spend 2 days in the hospital. I was also pregnent with my 3rd child at the time. she was very dehydrated and she threw up everyting, and also had the direha (that has the horrible smell) And my 6 year old (8 now) did not catch it. The doctor told me that it's like a mild case of the flue in children over a certain age and adults. But once she was admitted in childrens hospital and they hooked her up to IV's and gave her alot of fluids, she slept most of the time and she was so much better after that.. it's so scary though, especcially with the high fevers they get. So hopefully your little one will be getting better :)

Regarding the hydration issue - our doctor recommended G2 (the lighter gatorade). Maybe your son would like that and drink more.

Don't pay any attention to ignorant people! You know you are a good mom. Sometimes kids just catch things! We can't keep them in a bubble.

Adults can get rotavirus. My son had it recently and both my husband and I got it. Our version wasn't as serious as his, but still very unpleasant for 2 days. I got it a week after my husband, which surprised me.

I agree with the other poster about juice. That will not help his diarrhea. If he won't drink Pedialyte, try the Pedialyte popsicles or Gatorade. Or just water. Juice is not a good thing to give a kid with diarrhea.

Hi R.,

My son was 12 mos old when he got Rotavirus. It was horrible. And whoever said you are a bad mom should take a look in the mirror. My DR told me that you can get it from a shopping cart! People bring their sick kids out all the time and don't even realize how they spread germs. And no, adults can't get it. That is what my DR says. My main goal was to keep him hydrated. I gave him ANYTHING (except soda) to drink that he wanted. Gatorade comes in so many flavors and he liked the orange. My DR said popsicles too. Any form of liquid is good. Keep it up with little bits and keep on top of it. My son had to be hospitalized for a few hours to get fluids and that made a huge difference. You may want to talk to your DR about that.

Good luck and keep the faith.

C.

My son had it at about the same age and refused to drink pedialite... and ended up in the hospital for three days.

As others said, watch out for any signs of dehydration and get him to the doctor if you see them.

One thing I'm going to share is that my pediatrician cautioned against us giving him juice. Apparently the sugars in the juice can actually aggravate diarrhea. He suggested diet Gatorade diluted with water, or even diet 7-up or ginger ale (again, diluted). I found he was right when I had a serious bout of diarrhea and drank apple juice (I figured BRAT = apple, why not the juice??) and I found my symptoms got extremely worse. I imagine that if you diluted the juice with water it would be better than straight. Any fluids he's taking will be beneficial, just be careful that it doesn't make the diarrhea worse.

No one else has mentioned this, so... I don't know. I it works for us. Check with your son's doctor. Good luck!

Just keep in good contact with your pediatrician if there are any changes, and do whatever you can to avoid dehydration. I know a couple of kids who have been hospitalized (dehydration) because of rotavirus.

To your addition - I have never associated rotavirus with hygeine, and a lot of my friends' kids have had it. From what I understand, most kids get it although they may not know what it is and it's often not that bad (my kids have probably had it, although my pediatrician is not the type to differentiate - he would just say "a virus." I don't think a vaccine was available then? Is that recent?)

Anyway, your co-worker is an idiot, and chances are that you've been exposed to it in the past, so I wouldn't worry too much about catching it - too late now anyway!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your little guy. My kids won't drink pedialyte either :-) but if your dr. says it's ok, they love gatorade, which also has electrolytes.

My son got Rotavirus last winter. He was vaccinated against it also. We have no idea how he got it, and none of the other kids he came into contact with ever got it. We just chalked it up to "one of those things." Our son had a really mild case of it because we give him soy milk, the dairy seems to make it a lot worse. You may want to consider giving him soy milk until this passes (if he'll drink it). We also gave him Florastor (available at the pharmacy) to restore the good bacteria in his stomach. It also seemed to thicken up his poop and get over it faster. You are not a bad mom and there was nothing you could have done to prevent it, so cheer up! :)

Both my girls have had rotavirus. My oldest had it 3 times! (She was in day care and the entire room had it for about 2 months, it was awful) My youngest who is 8 months just got over it. She too had the vaccine. It is still possible to get rotavirus even if they had the vaccine, but it is usually a much more milder case. After having been through it so many times, I agree that with the vaccine it is much more mild. You just have to wait it out. Keep you child on the BRAT diet until he is back to 'normal' I would stay away from juice as it will just make the poop worse.
As for you getting it, almost every adult has had it multiple times, whether you remember it or not. Once you have had it about 3 times, you are pretty much immune to getting it again. So you don't need to really worry about catching it from him. Do make sure to wash your hands a lot as it is common for you or your baby to give it back to him right after he gets over it. And keep him away from other kids until he is back to normal as it is highly contagious. Good luck!