Imagine living with eight children, five of whom have had rotavirus for the past two weeks. While Super Dad and I tried to stay healthy, it was just a matter of time until the rotavirus spread to us. It is hard to avoid contracting a virus from sick toddlers who don’t cover their mouths when they cough, have chronic diarrhea, and sleep in your bed when they feel sick. It has been over two weeks since SD and I have been able to sleep all night. Little children always seem to run the highest fevers in the middle of the night. Worried parents stay awake after giving them acetaminophen, or ibuprofen to make sure the fever goes down.

Apparently, the virus and lack of sleep affected my judgment. On Friday, I took one of my sick children to the pediatrician for her five-year-old physical. Imagine my surprise and guilt when the doctor informed me that she had double ear infections. I was surprised that she hadn’t complained at all about her ears, apparently, she was too sick to notice.

Since we were there first thing in the morning, I asked if I could bring my 19 month old, Ami, in, so they could check her ears too. At 10am, we were back at the office to find out that Ami also had double ear infections, bronchitis, and she was wheezing. Now we have two children on antibiotics, which will probably lead to more diarrhea, but hopefully will help them feel better and result in all of sleeping all night.

Type A rotavirus is the leading cause of severe diarrhea among infants and children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and about half of the cases require hospitalization. Annually in the United States, over 3 million cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis occur primarily in the winter. The incubation period is a short one to three days. Symptoms often start with vomiting followed by four to eight days of diarrhea. Recovery is usually complete although approximately 100 children a year in the U.S. die from complications.


Despite proper hand washing, viral diarrhea is highly contagious.
There's no specific treatment for a rotavirus infection however you need to prevent dehydration while the virus runs it course. In developing countries, nearly one million children die annually from complications associated with dehydration. Type B and C rotavirus can spread to people of all ages, while type A usually affects young children.

Photo Credit Julia Fuller 2008