By the age of five most children in Australia will have had gastroenteritis, at least once. Over 10,000 will have been hospitalised due to dehydration. Here are just two stories.

 

Midnight trip to the emergency department

Michelle from Lake Macquarie, NSW and mother of three-year-old Dylan and five-month-old Zack suffered from rotavirus over the Easter period in 2003.

Michelle claims it was: "The worst, most exhausting period of my life."

First of all Michelle was taken ill and she had to get a doctor to visit her at home to give her an injection to reduce her severe vomiting. With Michelle's husband away on business and with two children to care for, Michelle called on her mother for help but later her mother contracted the virus as well.

To top it off only days later, five-month-old Zack came down with the rotavirus infection and had to be rushed to the local hospital emergency department where he was given medication to keep his fluids down.

"I had never seen Zack so sick, he could not keep anything down and was extremely dehydrated," Michelle says.

Michelle's advice to parents: "Seek medical advice as early as possible, you can never be too careful."

 

Rotavirus leads to three days in quarantine in hospital

Mother of three Karen from Panania, NSW was 11 weeks pregnant when her youngest child two-year-old Harry contracted rotavirus.

Harry had constant diarrhoea for two days when the GP advised Karen to take him to hospital where they admitted him and put him on a drip for three days.

Karen spent the next three days in isolation with Harry, swapping shifts with her husband who worked days but slept by Harry's side during the long and distressing nights.

"You don't wish it on anyone, it was such a scary time," Karen says.

"It felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. To see your child so sick and to be so helpless was an absolute nightmare."

Speak to your doctor about how you can help protect your child against rotavirus gastroenteritis.