Prevention & Treatment

Prevention with Vaccines is Critical 

Interventions that prevent other forms of diarrhea—such as improvements in hygiene, sanitation and drinking water—do not adequately prevent the spread of rotavirus. 

• Rotavirus cannot be treated with antibiotics or other drugs.
• Prompt treatment with oral rehydration therapy (ORT) can be effective in treating mild infections.
• But many of the world’s poorest children do not have access to ORT, despite the fact that it is effective and inexpensive. ORT coverage is only in ~30% of places where the most diarrhea deaths occur.¹
• IV fluids may be required if ORT is not administered, given too late or dehydration is too severe.
• Without access to treatment for the severe dehydration it can cause, rotavirus can be a death sentence.

Because of this, vaccination is the best way to prevent rotavirus disease and improve child survival.

A global plan to reduce deaths to less than 1 in 1000 by 2025

• The Integrated Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) goes to the heart of the challenge: recognizing that prevention and control of pneumonia and diarrhea can only be tackled through integrated programs.
• The goal of the report from WHO, UNICEF and others is to reduce deaths from pneumonia to fewer than 3 children per 1000 live births, and from diarrhea to less than 1 in 1000 by 2025.