Virtually all children become infected in the first 3-5 years of life, but severe diarrhea and dehydration occur primarily among children aged 3 to 35 months. In the first 5 years of life, four out of five children in the United States will develop rotavirus diarrhea, one in seven will require a clinic or emergency room visit, one in 78 will require hospitalization and one in 200,000 will die from rotavirus diarrhea. Rotavirus is very easy to catch. Rotaviruses are shed in high concentrations in the stool of infected children and are often transmitted by the fecal-oral route. The virus gets passed from one infected child to another by contaminated hands or objects.
Children can spread rotavirus both before and after they become sick with diarrhea.
Young children can sometimes pass the virus onto their older brothers and sisters. Among adults in the United States, rotavirus infections infrequently cause diarrhea in travelers, persons caring for children with rotavirus diarrhea and the elderly. Rotavirus accounts for more than 500,000 physician visits and approximately 50,000 hospitalizations each year among children less than 5 years of age. Other than vaccination, there is no effective way to completely eliminate rotavirus disease or its transmission. Washing with soaps or cleansers do not kill the virus, but will help reduce the spread of rotavirus.