More than 200,000 children dying from diarrhoea each year

Diarrhoea is one of the world’s leading causes of child illness and death, and rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea.
Each year, rotavirus diarrhoea kills about 200,000 children in countries around the world and hospitalises hundreds of thousands more, despite the fact that safe, effective vaccines exist that can protect children from this disease.
Rotavirus is highly contagious, and every child is at risk. Infants and children under the age of 2 years face the greatest risk of infection. Rotavirus causes gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines. It primarily infects the small intestine, destroying the surface tissue and preventing the absorption of nutrients, causing diarrhoea.
Typical symptoms can range from mild, watery diarrhoea to severe diarrhoea with vomiting and fever.
While mild to moderate dehydration caused by rotavirus infections can be treated with oral rehydration therapy (ORT), children who develop severe dehydration often require intravenous fluids and hospitalisation. 2 out of every 5 diarrhoea-related hospitalisations among children under age 5 are caused by rotavirus. For those who survive, rotavirus infections can have a lasting impact.
It can take up to 2 months for the intestine to fully repair itself after a moderate to severe case of rotavirus. As the intestine repairs, children cannot absorb nutrients as well, which means that during crucial stages of development, they grow significantly less than children who have not been sick with rotavirus diarrhoea.
Children who suffer from an episode of moderate-to-severe diarrhoea — from infections like rotavirus — are weakened and malnourished. They are more susceptible to the next illness that strikes, and have a more than eight-fold increase in their risk of death from any cause in the 2-3 months following an episode of diarrhoea.