unsaveSave
share-arrowShare
expand-left
full screen Fewer children in the emergency room with stomach flu thanks to vaccinations. Stock photography Photo: Martina Holmberg / TT
In recent years, the number of children suffering from stomach ailments has decreased significantly. The reason is the vaccine against rotavirus.
– That type of stomach ailment has basically disappeared, says pediatrician Tobias Alfvén.
The winter vomiting sickness season has been underway since December and there is no vaccine against the calicivirus that causes it. Apart from a dip during the pandemic, winter sickness strikes basically every winter. To protect yourself against it, hand washing with soap and water applies.
Vaccines help
But another stomach bug that hits young children hard has met a different fate. Since vaccination against rotavirus was introduced into the general childhood vaccination program in 2019, the incidence of stomach disease caused by the virus has decreased drastically.
– In studies from Finland, it has been seen that hospital admissions due to rotavirus infection decreased by 80 percent, says Hélène Englund, investigator at the unit for vaccination programs at the Public Health Agency.
Before some regions introduced vaccination against rotavirus, each year an estimated 2,100 children under the age of five were treated in hospitals in Sweden due to rotavirus-caused stomach disease.
– Small children can get seriously ill from rotavirus, but adults often don’t get as seriously ill. For me as a paediatrician, there is a very big difference. We see almost no children in the emergency room with stomach flu caused by rotavirus after the vaccination program was introduced, says Tobias Alfvén, pediatrician at Sachsska Children’s and Youth Hospital in Stockholm.
Common cause of death globally
All in all, this means that there are fewer stomach ailments among children and young people now than a few years ago. Globally, the rotavirus vaccine is a lifesaver.
– In Sweden, it is extremely unusual for children to die from stomach flu, but globally it is the fourth largest cause of death among children under five, says Tobias Alfvén.
FACT Rotavirus
Rotavirus is a highly contagious intestinal virus that causes stomach and intestinal infection (gastroenteritis).
Stomach disease caused by rotavirus occurs all year round, but mainly from December to April.
The disease mainly affects children aged 6 months to 3 years. In 2013, rotavirus caused an estimated 215,000 deaths among children under 5 years of age globally.
Rotavirus is highly contagious, and it only takes a few virus particles to cause disease. Infected people excrete large amounts of rotavirus in their feces, from before the onset of symptoms to several days after the illness is over.
The virus is stable, which means it can survive outside the body for several days. It can withstand high temperatures and many cleaning agents and solvents.
The route of infection is usually from faeces via hands and via objects such as toys, baby bottles and door handles. Rotavirus can also be transmitted via droplet infection.
Since 2019, vaccines against rotavirus have been included in the general vaccination programme
Source: Public Health Agency.
Read more