Virus World

Vaccinating babies against a virus that causes childhood "stomach flu" greatly reduces their chance of getting so sick that they need hospital care, a new study shows.

But the study also reveals a surprise: Getting fully vaccinated against rotavirus in the first months of life is associated with a lower risk of developing Type 1 diabetes later on.

As a group, children who received all recommended doses of rotavirus vaccine had a 33 percent lower risk than unvaccinated children of getting diagnosed with type 1 diabetes—a lifelong disease with no known prevention strategies or cure. Children vaccinated against rotavirus had a 94 percent lower rate of hospitalization for rotavirus infection, and a 31 percent lower rate of hospitalization for any reason, in the first two months after vaccination. Rotavirus hits infants and toddlers hardest; it can cause diarrhea and vomiting that can lead to dehydration or loss of fluids.

Yet the study finds more than a quarter of American children don't get fully vaccinated against rotavirus, and that the rate varies widely across the country. Less than half of children in New England and Pacific states were fully vaccinated. Two-thirds of children in the central part of the country were fully vaccinated.

.