The number of children infected with rotavirus in our country increased last year. According to the information of Gayane Sahakyan, the head of the national project for immunoprevention, about 40 children die in Armenia from this virus every year. Rotavirus is
an infection that causes diarrhea in children. In Ms. Sahakyan’s words, rotavirus infects a child and the child may die from its complications. The incubation period lasts for 1-3 days, which is followed by profuse diarrhea. In the first few days, the disease causes high temperature and vomiting in children.
During a meeting of the Ministry of Healthcare board, Ms. Sahakyan, presenting the complications caused by rotavirus to Derenik Dumanyan, the Minister of Healthcare, and other experts in the field, attached importance to vaccination of children against this virus. In Ms. Sahakyan’s words, 70% of children with complaints were hospitalized in 2011 because of rotavirus, “One cannot neutralize this virus even against the background of continuous improvement of hygienic conditions. Although breastfeeding is encouraged in our country and in this sense, we have rather high indices, infants under 6 months are also infected with rotavirus. An infant manages to be infected with this virus at least once. The serious clinical symptoms are in children aged 24 months.” According to the expert, the vaccine of this virus is harmless, there are no serious side effects, the first vaccination causes little irritation and loss of appetite. It is taken orally. In Gayane Sahakyan’s words, it is very important to vaccinate against rotavirus on schedule and the child should take the first dose for up to 15 weeks.
According to the expert, the problem of rotavirus exists in developed and developing countries, “There are 452 thousand deaths among children under 5 around the world every year. The calm season of that virus is the summer; the infection rages in the autumn and reaches the climax in the spring.”
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Lusine BUDAGHYAN
