We're not there yet, but it's about to happen: the joy of rotavirus gastroenteritis in our dear little ones!
As every year, this little virus will infect about 300,000 children under the age of 5.
In other words, it is rare for a child (and his or her parents) to escape. And for good reason! It goes everywhere. It looks like a small wheel (hence its name) and is extremely resistant to everything, including the cold (it can easily withstand a temperature of 4°C) and acidity (it survives the very acidic pH of the stomach).
In short, once in the digestive tract, it penetrates the cells of the intestinal mucosa and multiplies while destroying them. It thus causes a beautiful gastroenteritis. Themicrobiota is in a state of panic. By the time the antibodies come to the rescue and the virus is gradually eliminated in the very liquid stools, theinfected child suffers from a nice gastroenteritis. And that's the problem!
On the one hand, the child risks becoming dehydrated very quickly - and on the other hand, his stools are extremely contagious because they are full of rotavirus. With 10,000 million viruses per ml of stool, that's 500 ml of liquid stool per day!
5,000 billion little viruses that have a field day in nappies, pots and on hands.
The virus itself is not bad, but it is the dehydration through diarrhoea and vomiting that it causes.
The procedure is clear: as soon as a child vomits or suffers from diarrhoea, it is essential to give him or her something to drink to compensate for the loss of water; this implies having a bottle of water available to give every hour, in addition to his or her infant milk, which is adapted in case of diarrhoea.
In addition, and on the advice of your doctor, you should add an Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) sold in pharmacies, to be diluted in the bottle water.
It provides a set of minerals (sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc.) to compensate for losses through diarrhoea and vomiting.
In total (milk and water), count on a volume of liquid of between 1.5 and 2 litres. To be adapted according to the context and the severity of the symptoms by your doctor.
This is to tell you thatdiarrhoea in infants should never be ignored. You should consult your doctor immediately and not wait for your child to become dehydrated.
Also, no antibiotics (they are ineffective on viruses).
Ittakes 5 to 7 days to heal. During this period, if you want to avoid catching it, you or the other children in the family will have to wash your hands 40,000 times a day after cleaning your baby's bottom, after going to the toilet, before preparing food, before eating, before giving food and not sharing cutlery and glasses with others. To each his own!
There is currently a vaccine against rotavirus. It is not compulsory. It should be given orally to children from 6 weeks and before the age of 6 months, in 2 or 3 doses given at 1 month intervals.
It is an attenuated virus that allows the child to develop immunity to the virus. Thus, the day he meets the real virus, he will have his antibodies already ready to destroy it. The gasto-enteritis will then be much shorter and less severe.
However, this vaccine can have side effects; rare cases of intestinal intussusception have been noted. So it's always the same: you have to weigh up the pros and cons. It would be especially recommended for fragile and immunocompromised infants. It is up to each person to discuss this with their doctor.
Having said that, have a good winter!
Dr Laurence PLUMEY
Nutritionist. Paris Hospitals IDF
Professor of Nutrition
Author of numerous books for the general public