Rotavirus is a virus that causes gastroenteritis.  The virus is spread by the fecal-oral route.  It can be spread by contaminated hands, objects (such as toys), food and water. Children are most likely to get rotavirus in the winter and spring.¹

In 2010, it was estimated that rotavirus was responsible for 10% to 40% of all gastroenteritis among children.

Canadian data indicate that rotavirus gastroenteritis results in significant use of the health care system. 36% of children with rotavirus see a doctor, 15% visit an emergency department,
 and 7% are hospitalized. Rotavirus is responsible for the majority of hospitalizations due to gastroenteritis – estimated between one in 62 and one in 312 children under 5 years of age.^2,3

Household transmission of rotovirus is common, and there is some evidence that crowded living conditions contribute.⁴ Improved sanitation alone is not sufficient to prevent the infection as rotovirus is spread by oral-fecal contact, a common behaviour among young children.

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rotavirus. https://www.cdc.gov/rotavirus/index.html-accessed May 22, 2017.
²National Advisory Committee on Immunization. An Advisory Committee Statement (ACS). Statement on the Recommended Use of Pentavalent Human-Bovine Reassortant Rotavirus Vaccine. Canadian Disease Weekly Report. January 2008 • Volume 34 • ACS-1.
³National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). An Advisory Committee Statement (ACS): Updated Statement on the use of Rotavirus Vaccines. Canadian Communicable Disease Report. July 2010 • Volume 36 • ACS-4
⁴Henry F and Bartholomew RK. Epidemiology and transmission of rotavirus infections and diarrhoea in St. Lucia, West Indies. West Indian Med J. 1990 Dec;39(4):205-12.