Last updated on August 24th, 2026 at 10:58 am

As I wrote previously, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his anti-vaccine sycophants in CDC leadership decided to move the rotavirus vaccine from “recommended” to “shared clinical decision-making.” Instead of making sure children are protected from the dangerous disease, a decision on the vaccine is left up to random conversations between a healthcare worker and the parents.

Of course, this change confuses parents. If the vaccine is safe and effective and prevents a dangerous disease, the CDC should recommend it. By removing the vaccine from the recommended list, many parents may forgo the vaccine. And that will lead to thousands of hospitalizations.

The article will review the dangers of rotavirus and why the vaccine can help keep a baby from getting the virus.

All about rotavirus

Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrheal disease among infants and young children across the world. Nearly every child in the world is infected with one of the nine different species of rotavirus at least once by the age of five.

The virus is transmitted by the fecal-oral route, usually from contaminated objects, food, or unwashed hands. Rotavirus infection is mostly observed in infants and young children. However, even older children and adults are known to become infected with the virus.

The virus infects and damages the cells that line the small intestine, causing gastroenteritis, which some people incorrectly refer to as the “stomach flu,” a disease that does not exist.

Rotavirus circulates easily in schools, daycare centers, and within households. Good hygiene (handwashing) and cleanliness are important, but are not enough to control the spread of the disease. You can be immaculately clean, but the virus quickly and easily moves from person to person.

One of the primary issues with rotavirus is that once a person has been exposed to infection, symptoms appear for two days. Thus, rotavirus can move from person to person before symptoms appear.

The complications of rotavirus infection are not minor. Children who get infected may have severe watery diarrhea, often with vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. These symptoms can last for 3-8 days, during which the child has to be closely watched for dehydration and loss of appetite, dangerous conditions for infants and children.

A rotavirus infection can lead to intussusception, a rare but serious complication where one part of the intestine slides into another, blocking the intestine and cutting off blood flow. This condition requires immediate medical attention.

Before the introduction of the vaccine in the USA in 2006, rotavirus infection caused significant morbidity among U.S. children, with an estimated 55,000–70,000 hospitalizations and 410,000 clinic visits annually. According to another analysis of 10 years of rotavirus infections in the USA before the introduction of the vaccine, rotavirus was estimated to be the cause of approximately 2.7 million (yes million) cases of severe gastroenteritis, 60,000 hospitalizations, and 37 deaths annually.

Worldwide, more than 450,000 children under five years of age still die from rotavirus infection each year. Think about that–nearly one-half million children die from a disease that could be prevented by a simple vaccine, every single year.

Rotavirus vaccine

In 2006, the rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq or Rotarix) was first included in the childhood vaccination schedule in the USA. Subsequently, there was a substantial and sustained decline in rotavirus circulation both nationally and regionally, as well as a shift in the epidemiology of this virus.

A previous version of the rotavirus vaccine, approved in the USA in 1998, was recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). However, post-licensure studies in the USA found that infants who received the vaccine were 30 times more likely to develop intussusception during three to seven days after the first dose compared to unvaccinated infants. Based on these data, ACIP withdrew its recommendation to use the vaccine. The manufacturer of the vaccine withdrew it from the worldwide market in 1999.

Infants who receive the current rotavirus vaccines have shown to have a lower risk of intussusception compared to unvaccinated infants who contract a rotavirus infection.

A CDC study estimated that the vaccine averted over 400 deaths over 16 years, averaging about 25 per year. The study also estimated that the vaccine averted 30 million rotavirus infections and 819,000 hospitalizations during that period.

Get the rotavirus vaccine

Let me remind the reader again — before the rotavirus vaccine became available in 2006, there were tens of thousands of hospitalizations of children, along with an average of 37 deaths per year. Rotavirus is not a disease that can be treated with a bowl of soup and a couple of days in bed.

RFK Jr’s push to sow doubt about all vaccines is going to cause harm to America’s children. The rotavirus vaccine is safe and very effective in preventing hospitalization and death.

There is absolutely no reason for removing it from the recommended list. All this does is confuse parents as to which vaccines they need to protect their children.

Get the vaccine. Your child will be grateful.

Citations

• Cortese MM, Parashar UD; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis among infants and children: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR Recomm Rep. 2009 Feb 6;58(RR-2):1-25. Erratum in: MMWR Recomm Rep. 2010 Aug 27;59(33):1074. PMID: 19194371.
• Fischer TK, Viboud C, Parashar U, Malek M, Steiner C, Glass R, Simonsen L. Hospitalizations and deaths from diarrhea and rotavirus among children <5 years of age in the United States, 1993-2003. J Infect Dis. 2007 Apr 15;195(8):1117-25. doi: 10.1086/512863. Epub 2007 Mar 6. PMID: 17357047.
• Tate JE, Burton AH, Boschi-Pinto C, Steele AD, Duque J, Parashar UD; WHO-coordinated Global Rotavirus Surveillance Network. 2008 estimate of worldwide rotavirus-associated mortality in children younger than 5 years before the introduction of universal rotavirus vaccination programmes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis. 2012 Feb;12(2):136-41. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(11)70253-5. Epub 2011 Oct 24. PMID: 22030330.
• Zhou F, Jatlaoui TC, Leidner AJ, Carter RJ, Dong X, Santoli JM, Stokley S, Daskalakis DC, Peacock G. Health and Economic Benefits of Routine Childhood Immunizations in the Era of the Vaccines for Children Program – United States, 1994-2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2024 Aug 8;73(31):682-685. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7331a2. PMID: 39116024; PMCID: PMC11309373.

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