Rotavirus - Pearl,MS

Hey T.,
My son had rotavirus last year, he ran a high temp. severe diarhea with worse than average diarhea smell, severe vomiting he was hospitalized for 24 hours so they could run medicine through him intraveneously. Rotavirus like any virus with little ones who can't stomach anything, it is very, very important to get something in them to keep them hidrated. Phenergan for nausea isn't good because it causes the temp. to rise, instead ask for zoferan suppositories
Good Luck,
B.

Our daughter had rotavirus and she ended up in the hospital with an IV. It bothers me that he has possibly had it for 5 days. He has to be taking in as much juice, water, etc that he is letting out. If he hasn't had a wet diaper in a while or if he is very tired or just weak, lying around you may need to take him immediately to the doctor. They can become dehydrated so fast and you not even know. But try gatorade and half water. That is what my daugher was given. The nurse said it was just as good as pedialyte and the taste was much better. Try giving him a fruit popsicle or make him one of gatorade. But don't wait too long if he hasn't had anything to drink in a while or like I said if he seems lethargic. Also if you pull on his skin and it doesn't spring back it could be a sign of dehydration. Hope he feels better soon!

I know that that has been going around a friend of mine's daughter had it this year and most of her friends too. After being diagnosed with it they put then on anitbiotics and after a few days they were fine. My friends daughter actually still feels sick when she eats alot and it has been like a month. I think it is all in her head. I really dont have a lot of advise for you make sure they give you some phenagren (sp?) the nausia medication though. I just thought you might like to know that it is somewhat common and seems to be going around. good luck and hope he gets feeling better.

I'm pretty sure that all you can do for the Rotavirus is keep the baby hydrated. Try Jello, pedialyte, sprite, and all other clear liquids. My little one used to like Gatoraid. Be sure to keep his bottom dry because the acids in the diarrhea will tear up their little bottoms quick. If he becomes dehydrated you should be sure to take him to the doctor or Emergency Room. Signs of dehydration include dry mouths, not making wet diapers and no tears when he crys. Watch him carefully for this because they come dehydrated so easily. My advise is just to push fluids.

my son has had bad diarhea 4 times in the last 4 years....2 or 3 of those times we have ended up in the hospital for fluids...the best thing you can do is keep fluids in them...kids this age get dehydrated quickly..make sure he is having 3 or 4 diapers at least a day..his eyes are sunk in...i his soft spot hasn't closed up make sure that hasn't sunk in...i can't remember when that closes..lol....fluids fluids fluids is all i can say...and lots of diaper cremem to prevent rash...it will just have to run its course...most cases are done in 3-5 days..but i believe the first time my son got it waas like 7-10 days..the worse...we are crossing our fingers christopher don't get it this year..

M.

T. C,

Believe me! I totally know what rotavirus is!!!!!!! My son had it when he was 7 months old! I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days! It was aweful for him. Sorry, I'm not trying to freak you out, but you really need to know. My son experienced nausea, vomiting (only twice), SEVERE diarrhea, loss of appetite, and dehydration. He would only take luke warm pedialite for those 4 days and within 20 min of a feeding it would all come right back out his bottom end! It would be the same color and consistancy as the powerade or pedialite we had just given him! He also as a result of this had a really painful diaper rash.

The only advice I can give you is get to a hospital! He needs an IV to administer him some fluids because I am sure if he's went that long without food or drink then he's probably dehydrated. Sorry, I know that's not what a parent wants to hear, but it's the only way he'll get better. Hope that helps.

We went through this, make sure you keep him hydrated. If he won't drink you can use a medicine dropper or syringe to make him drink the pedialyte, it takes awhile but better than the alternative (hospitalization and an IV drip) for dehydration.

we just got done with this at my house--be sure to keep him hydrated rotavirus normally last 3-9 days and is highly contagious.

My son had roto when he was a baby, 17 months and spent 8 days in the hospital he lost all but 2% of his body fluid and almost died. Our daughter had it last Feb at 20 months and spent 5 days in the hosptial. There is no medication for roto just iv fluids. if your son is not drinking you should try to get fluids into him using a syringe to shoot it in his mouth as often as possible. if he becomes lifeless take him to the doc or er asap. loosing tears is not always a sign of dehydration until the very last stages, our daughter was still crying huge tears when she entered the hospital dehydrated. this is a very dangerous illness not to be played with in any manner!

hi T. i went through this with my first set of twins. this is a very serious virus. whatever you do just make sure he gets plenty of liquids and if you can get him to eat anything do it. try popsicles, jello anything that will give him something. my two boys caught it when we lived in ft rucker the dr there told us not to feed them anything for a few days. my two boys almost died b/c we followed his orders. i took them to a different dr and they were put into the hospital b/c the other dr almost killed them. the best thing is to see your dr if he says not to feed them take them to another dr. but make sure you give him plenty of liquids and try and get him to eat a little bit of something. good luck with that and i hope he gets better soon.

Hi- the previous post about milk is right. During bouts of severe diarreah, many children become lactose intolerant for a short period of time.

Also, CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN!!!! This virus (and also the Norwalk virus- common on cruise ships) are both HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS and I seem to remember reading that they can live on dry surfaces (ie- toys the baby mouthed, etc) for soemthing like a week!!!! Anything that has been soiled should be washed in hot water, including all bed linens when your son starts to recover.

I tend to go overboard with trying to keep the rest of us from getting the bug, but even that isn't foolproof.

The only time I had it, I was shocked at the INTENSE stomach cramps and gas pains. No wonder my daughter was so miserable. It seems to linger longer for the little ones than for adults.

This is definitely making the rounds here in North Alabama, and has been since Fall Break!

Good luck!
J.

Hi T.,
I never had heard of rotavirus until this week - a friend's 3 and 2 year old sons both ended up in the hospital for this virus - were just dismissed yesterday. They started with vomiting and diarhea that wouldn't stop - took them to the pediatrician who sent them on to the hospital. Both were severely dehydrated and were on IVs for 3-4 days. If I were you, I would have your son checked again - especially since he is so young. You can find info on this virus by going to google.com and typing in rotavirus. Goodluck.

No Milk. Give him any other liquids that he will drink. It is of the utmost importance that he stay hydrated. We just went through this three weeks ago. My son had the diarrhea for about two weeks. I gave him a lot of fruits (they have a lot of water in them). He didn't really want veggies or meat so much. I kept a sippy cup available to him at all times and offered it to him about every thirty minutes. My friends son also had this at he same time and had to take him to the hospital to replenish his fluids. It is very very important that he have something to keep him hydrated. Also, as far as his diet, look up the b.r.a.t. diet. (bananas, rice, apples, toast) This is the most recommended diet for diarrhea or vomiting. Hope this helps!
~T.