Keeping your child from being exposed to rotavirus can be difficult. Rotavirus is sturdy enough that it can survive for long periods of time on ordinary home surfaces9 and it infects almost every child at least once by 5 years of age2.
HOW DO CHILDREN GET ROTAVIRUS INFECTION?
Rotavirus is very contagious. A child that is sick may spread in their stools billions of particles of rotavirus, but a healthy child needs just some of them to become infected.17 Rotavirus can survive for weeks on toys and other household surfaces.5,14
Most people become infected by being in contact with an infected person (fecal-oral transmission). Because rotavirus can survive for long periods of time on inanimate surfaces, transmission can occur by hand-to-mouth contact after a contaminated surface is touched.17 There is also some evidence that some rotavirus infections can be spread through the air.17 Unfortunately, keeping a clean home may not protect your baby from rotavirus since common disinfectants cannot kill it.5 However, proper hand washing with soap does help to effectively kill the virus on hands.14 Because rotavirus is so highly contagious and difficult to control, over 95% of children become infected by 5 years of age.2
SEASONALITY OF ROTAVIRUS INFECTIONS
Rotavirus infection usually starts to occur in the late Fall and tends to end in the Spring in North America.6,12 Although rotavirus infection happens most often during March, April and May, infection may occasionally occur during other months as well.13
There is no way to completely prevent rotavirus infection. Cleanliness and good hygiene should be maintained in day cares, preschools, and homes with young children, which are high-risk areas for rotavirus.5
Some tips that may help control the spread of rotavirus include:5,18
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