Q about Dr Sears selective schedule and rotavirus

[MamaBlueBird]

Hello all! So I'm still debating between not vaxing our first child or doing selective vaccinations. I've been reading a bit online about Dr Sears selective vaccination schedule and I noticed that while he cut out many vaccines, rotavirus is still included. From my understanding, while rotavirus is very common (like the flu), it is very rarely fatal. Yes, the symptoms suck, but unless I am wrong, it seems to rarely cause lasting damage or death. I don't own The Vaccine Book -- does anyone have any insight into why this vaccine might be considered a higher priority to give and important to keep in a selective schedule? Thank you

[cantora87]

I think it's only important if your child is in daycare, especially if not breastfed. But if you BF and stay at home, the risk of catching it and the immune system not fending it off is virtually nil.

[erigeron]

My mother breastfed me to 6 months and I was never in day care. I got a stomach bug at age 2 and was so dehydrated I had to be hospitalized. Ultimately I was fine, obviously, but a vaccine might have spared me needing that treatment and my parents having to see their child in the hospital. (no, obviously I don't know if it really was rota or not. But rota causes this kind of illness, so the vaccine spares some families an episode like this even if my case wasn't one of them.) Just b/c the rate of death is low doesn't mean there aren't consequences from the disease. 

[prosciencemum]

When she was about 13 months old, my daughter (fully vaccinated, but before rotavirus vaccine), who was still breast feeding a lot also ended up in hospital on IV fluids following a stomach bug (serious vomitting and diarrhoea). I would have liked to avoid that experience. 

Also I (and my husband) both got the bug afterwards, and that was pretty miserable too. Was not a nice couple of weeks in our household.

[nia82]

It's unlikely to be rotavirus if the parents had it too - most people catch the many different rota strains as children and develop immunity to them.

OP, we opted against it. The safety and side effects vs. severity of disease with access to a hospital did not convince us. Also, the vaccines are contaminated with pig virus despite the fact that no pig tissue is used in the processing, which is rather odd and concerning (pollution with animal virus and prions is a big beef for me and I think we as consumers need to demand better products from the industry). I think it was only Rotarix.

[Turquesa]

I'd been meaning to reply to this because I have the book and can answer the OP's question directly.

Sears doesn't make his priority rationale clear, but his bottom line is that he recommends this vaccine because A. Rota is not treatable, (although you can shorten it with probiotics, lots of fluids, and (worst case), IV fluids, B. It's common C. hopes of vaccinating this disease out of the population.

On the other hand, fatalities (at least in the US) from rota are extremely rare, and breastfed babies not in daycare are low-risk. The disease is at highest risk in the first year.

He also says (and I definitely agree) that this vaccine is a good idea if you're traveling somewhere far from close and quality medical care.

Hope that helps!

[Rrrrrachel]

I think rota also has one of the lowest risks of serious complications. So why it might seem "low reward" it's also pretty low risk.