Per Wikipedia: “Rotavirus is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family Reoviridae. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus at least once by the age of five. Immunity develops with each infection, so subsequent infections are less severe; adults are rarely affected. There are nine species of the genus, referred to as A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I. Rotavirus A, the most common species, causes more than 90% of rotavirus infections in humans.
“The virus is transmitted by the faecal-oral route. It infects and damages the cells that line the small intestine and causes gastroenteritis (which is often called “stomach flu” despite having no relation to influenza). Although Rotavirus was discovered in 1973 by Ruth Bishop and her colleagues by electron micrograph images and accounts for approximately one third of hospitalisations for severe diarrhoea in infants and children, its importance has historically been underestimated within the public health community, particularly in developing countries. In addition to its impact on human health, rotavirus also infects animals, and is a pathogen of livestock.”
According to the CDC, 20 to 60 infants died each year from rotavirus infections due to profound deydration caused by diarrhea prior to the vaccine’s release in 2006. Like the pertussis vaccine, the rotavirus vaccine does not confer immunity to the disease: it only lowers the severity of sympoms once infected. Since rotavirus is endemic and has reservoirs in multiple other animal species, there is no possibility of it being eliminated entirely from the population.
Vaccine Statistics
When debating informed consent, it is important that people calculate the risk versus the reward for all options. Here are some facts, according to VAERS and the CDC.
- Prior to vaccination, an average of 40 infants died each year due to rotavirus infection
- Since 2006, there have been 414 deaths reported to VAERS associated with the rotavirus vaccine
- Since 2006, there have been 15,930 adverse events reported to VAERS, with the vast majority of them in children under one year of age
- 745 immediately life threatening complications (1 in 37,000/1 in 370)
- 200 permanent disabilities (1 in 137,000/1 in 1370)
- 2895 hospitalizations or extensions of hospitalizations (1 in 9400/1 in 94)
- 5317 emergency room or office visits related to complications (1 in 5100/1 in 51)
Vaccine Safety
Vaccine Type: live virus/known vector of transmission
This section will reference the RotaTeq vaccine insert as provided by the FDA. It should be noted that the rotavirus vaccine (all types) are one of the few vaccines on the market that doesn’t use aluminum adjuvants.
Contraindications (do not vaccinate):
- Hypersensitivity to any component of the vaccine
- History of intussusception
- Immunosuppressed (such as with steroids) or immunocompromised
- Fever
Adverse Reactions (as reported by the manufacturer):
- Hematochezia, siezures, Kawasaki disease, diarrhea, vomiting, irritability, otitis media, nasopharyngitis, bronchospasm, anaphylaxis, intussusception, gastroenteritis, urticaria, angioedema, death
It should be concerning to those that acknowledge the risks involved in vaccination that the control group’s “placebo” was DTaP, which is known to have high risk factors itself.