23 August 2020

Key points

  • Rotavirus can give children — particularly those under five — a severe gastroenteritis.
  • Taking the rotavirus vaccine greatly reduces the gastroenteritis rotavirus causes.
  • The rules for giving it are strict: the baby cannot be older than 15 weeks at the first dose, nor older than 32 weeks at the last.
  • The reason is intussusception. Given too late, the vaccine may be followed by one section of intestine sliding inside another, causing obstruction and local death of tissue — a situation that needs surgery to put right.
  • So mothers should bear in mind: if the baby is to have the rotavirus vaccine, the first dose must be taken before 15 weeks old.