Rotavirus is spreading in California and across the U.S., wastewater and federal data show, with high levels of the diarrhea-causing infection reported in every region but the Midwest.
The Bay Area is a major hotspot, the 40-state-tracking WastewaterSCAN Dashboard shows. High levels have also been detected at wastewater treatment plants in New Jersey, Connecticut, and along the Northeast coast, with numbers steadily rising nationwide since mid-December, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dashboard.
The gastrointestinal illness is extremely contagious, spreading to people of all ages through infected fecal matter particles that transfer during direct contact with infected humans or by touching contaminated surfaces.
Infections can also be fatal without vaccine protection. There are 20-40 deaths each year – about 20 fewer than before a rotavirus vaccine was introduced in the 1990s. Before the vaccine, rotavirus was the leading cause of severe diarrhea among infants and young children in the U.S. and there were as many as 2.7 million cases.
However, recent changes to vaccine recommendations from the Trump administration could mean that some parents don’t ensure their young children – the highest risk group for infection – are protected. However, the changes were temporarily blocked in court last month.
The administration now says that parents should decide with their doctors whether rotavirus vaccines are right for their children, breaking from previous CDC guidance that all children get the vaccines.
Health Sec. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said that the agency was “aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent.”
Denmark was a model for the new vaccine schedule, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Scandinavian nation does not vaccinate against rotavirus.
Major medical groups and experts have blasted the recommendations, saying the changes would put Americans at risk.
“They’re going to bring back suffering and death,” Dr. Sean O’Leary, the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, said after initial reports of change in December. “I don’t say that with any hyperbole, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine, noted that people “tend to think that diarrheal disease isn’t a big deal.”
“And that may be generally true for most adults or older children, but rotavirus can actually be very severe in infants and young children,” she said in a statement shared by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Rotavirus disease infections may include between 3-8 days of vomiting and watery diarrhea, as well as fever, abdominal pain, dehydration and a loss of appetite. The first infection tends to cause the most severe symptoms.
Infections are the most common in children under the age of 5 years old.
Vaccines don’t offer full immunity from future infections, but they are still the best way to prevent severe infection, the CDC says. Between 94-96 percent of vaccinated children are protected from hospitalization.
Rotavirus vaccines have helped to avert 45,000 hospitalizations and 342,000 visits to clinics and emergency departments, according to the CDC.
There are two types of vaccines for infants in the U.S., both of which are given by putting drops in the mouth. There are no vaccines for adults.
There is a very small risk of intussusception following vaccination: a rare type of bowel blockage that affects one in every 20,000-100,000 U.S. infants. Before the vaccine, 1,900 infants a year developed the condition.
“Rotavirus vaccine is very safe and is effective at preventing rotavirus. Vaccines, like any medicine, can have side effects. These are usually mild and go away on their own,” the CDC says.
