Rotvirus infection mainly affects children up to 3 years of age. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and fever. A large proportion of patients are infected mildly, but if dehydration occurs, the child must be hospitalized. There, the infection can easily spread, leading to infecting other patients – explains the pediatrician, prof. Jacek Wysocki.
- Vaccination against rotavirus prevents unnecessary hospitalizations and the spread of infection in children’s wards – argues prof. Jacek Wysocki, pediatrician and infectious diseases specialist
- Family doctors ensure that visits are carried out in accordance with these guidelines – he explains and adds that qualification for vaccination takes place in the form of teleportation
- He also explains that in the era of the coronavirus epidemic, the prevention of all other infectious diseases is particularly important
- Currently, health care does not function normally and if there were, for example, an epidemic of whooping cough or measles, it would cause a mass influx of children to infectious diseases outpatient clinics and departments that are now affected by COVID-19, explains Prof. Wysocki
- You can read more about the coronavirus epidemic on the TvoiLokony home page
Interview with prof. Jacek Wysocki, pediatrician, infectious diseases specialist, head of the Chair and Department of Health Prevention at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Karol Marcinkowski in Poznań, vice-president of the Polish Society of Wakcynology.
Has the number of vaccinated children recently increased after the pandemic downtime?
Prof. Jacek Wysocki: We do not know this, because due to the pandemic, the sanitary and epidemiological services are currently busy with other matters and do not report such data. However, I do not think that the immunization of children will increase. It probably decreased, because after the vaccination suspension period (between March and April this year), the clinics operated in more difficult conditions than before.
How are the guidelines of the Ministry of Health of April 17 implemented? on safeguards in clinics admitting young patients for vaccinations?
GPs ensure that visits follow these guidelines. First, there is a teleportation to determine whether the child is feverish, not under quarantine, etc. In a word – whether he or she can come to the clinic. During teleportation, parents can also decide which vaccine (s) their child will get vaccinated with.
What else are the recommendations of the Ministry of Health about?
Limiting the number of visits to clinics. Therefore, we try not to spread vaccinations over the next visits, but to carry them out during one visit. The emphasis is mainly on the youngest children, up to 3 years of age. For other age groups, the idea is to get a booster safely.
It is worth emphasizing that during such a visit it is not only about vaccination, but also about the assessment of the child’s development by the pediatrician. Failure to make preventive visits, especially for young children, would be dangerous because parents may not notice some discrete symptoms, such as cerebral palsy or anemia.
So the epidemic does not exempt from vaccination?
Contrary. According to global health organizations, vaccination is more important than usual during this period. These organizations agree: vaccinations need to be carried out so that there will not be another epidemic that would overlap with the existing one. Currently, health care is not functioning normally and if there were, for example, an epidemic of whooping cough or measles, it would cause a massive influx of children to the infectious diseases clinics and departments that are now occupied with covid. And yet they can also attack rotaviruses.
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What is such an infection characterized by?
It mainly affects children up to 3 years of age. It causes gastrointestinal symptoms – diarrhea and vomiting – and fever. A significant proportion of patients undergo infection so mildly that they can be dealt with by a general practitioner. However, if dehydration does occur, the child must be hospitalized. So we have additional hospitalizations due to rotaviruses. Moreover, such infection spreads easily in hospital wards, leading to infecting children who have been brought there with other medical conditions. Hospital staff and parents who are in the ward with their children can also get sick.
So, during an epidemic, can parents accompany a child infected with rotavirus in the hospital?
They can, but in the regime of restrictions. Only one parent can stay with a child in the hospital, who will be there non-stop, without leaving and returning. Parents or guardians are also not allowed to exchange in caring for the child, which is normally possible. The point is that no additional people who may be a source of infection pass through the ward.
To sum up: vaccination against rotavirus is therefore intended to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and the spread of infection in children’s wards. So it is important, but also difficult to vaccinate.
Dlaczego?
Because there is a narrow “window” for this: the vaccination cycle must be started when the baby is 6 weeks old and finished by 24 weeks old. During this time, 2 or 3 doses should be administered, depending on the preparation. On the other hand, the form of the vaccine – oral – is friendly. It is administered at the clinic, from the applicator, directly into the child’s mouth.
What do we know about the epidemiology of rotavirus infections?
In Poland, 30-40 thousand people are registered. illnesses annually. However, this is the tip of the iceberg. GPs do not have to and do not have tests to check that a child actually has a rotavirus infection. 90 percent Notifications to sanitary inspections are submitted by hospitals that perform such tests. We know from world studies that only one in seven sick children goes to the hospital, the rest stay at home. However, the risk of rotavirus does not only apply to young children.
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Who else?
Parents, older siblings, elderly people. They get the infection more gently, they don’t go to the hospital, but they have diarrhea. They can infect other people, which makes the virus spread to the population and we have a hard time with it.
Does rotavirus infection increase the risk of developing SARS-Cov-2?
There are no scientific studies that would indicate this. They are completely different viruses. SARS-Cov-2 acts on the respiratory tract, and rotavirus is a typical enteric infection.
How many rotavirus hospitalizations were there in 2019 and how many are there today?
Until September 15, 2019, almost 31 thousand jobs were recorded in Poland. hospitalization. In the same period of 2020, there are 5,4 thousand of them, which is much less. This is due to the fact that due to the lockdown, e.g. nurseries and kindergartens. Lack of contact with other children lowers the risk of rotavirus infection. After schools and kindergartens have opened, we are seeing the number of rotavirus patients in hospitals starting to increase.
Apparently, from January 2021, vaccination against rotavirus will already be in the compulsory vaccination calendar?
Yes, and that is very good news. This will allow us to vaccinate children against rotavirus for free. This vaccine can be given together with all other vaccines and is not harmful to the baby.
As a side note: in the UK, which has a lot of experience in this regard, all vaccines – injectable and oral – are given in one visit.
- Anti-Vaccines – Why Are They Dangerous? [BOOK FRAGMENT]
Has the coronavirus epidemic stopped the anti-vaccine movement?
Unfortunately not. These people are now proclaiming that the coronavirus does not exist, that it is the invention of pharmaceutical companies and the evil forces that rule the world. This is of course not true, we have an epidemic! However, it is impossible to argue with such people in rational terms. A psychologist or a sociologist should speak here.
Authorized press interview prepared by the Journalists for Health Association in connection with the 2020th Polish National Conference “Polish Woman in Europe”, October XNUMX.
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