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Case reports,
personal testimonies, newspaper and journal articles
about people who have suffered or died from vaccine-preventable diseases
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Rotavirus: Report #92
Holly's Experience with Rotavirus |
The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) publishes articles about people who
have suffered or died from vaccine-preventable diseases and periodically devotes
an "IAC Express" issue to such an article. This is the 92nd in our series.
In August 2006, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
recommended routine vaccination of infants with 3 doses of rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq)
administered orally at ages 2, 4, and 6 months.
Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among children, resulting
in the hospitalization of approximately 55,000 children each year in the United
States. In developing countries, rotavirus infection is a major cause of
childhood death and is responsible for approximately half a million deaths
annually among children younger than 5 years.
In the following article, actress Holly Robinson Peete describes her experience
as the mother of a toddler with rotavirus infection. It is reprinted courtesy of
the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
A few years ago, while on a family vacation, Holly's son, then two years old,
became very ill. He started vomiting profusely and had trouble keeping down any
liquids. Extremely concerned, Holly and her husband took him to the nearest
emergency room where he was diagnosed with rotavirus diarrhea and received
intravenous fluids to treat his dehydration.
"As the wife of a football player and mother of three boys, I always thought I
would have to take one of my sons to the emergency room for a broken arm or cut,
but not for something like diarrhea," said Holly. "It was heart-wrenching to see
my son so sick and even scarier, I had never heard of rotavirus before the
doctor talked about it. Now it's my turn to get the word out, so others can be
aware of rotavirus and the potential effect it can have on a family."
Holly's son has recovered from his experience with rotavirus, but there are too
many stories like Holly's every year in the United States.
"My story shows that this can happen to any young child, at any time," adds
Holly. "It happened to my child, it can happen to yours."
Holly Robinson Peete
Mom, Film and Television Actor
To access the original article, go to
www.nfid.org/rotavirus/peete_message.html
2/27/07
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