Rotavirus is a virus that causes acute gastroenteritis, or stomach and intestinal inflammation, usually in infants and young children. It is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in this age group. Symptoms include watery diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. The virus is transmitted through the fecal-oral route. While it is possible to become infected more than once by rotavirus, good hygiene practices and rotavirus vaccines can help prevent and treat the disease.

1. Rotavirus
by Sinead Mc Coy and Kanchan Parsad

2. Virus classification and
identification
• Serological tests
Family Reoviridae
Subfamily Sedoreovirinae
Genus Rotavirus
Group III double stranded RNA
Species Rotavirus A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H

3. History of Rotavirus
•In 1973 the virus was
identified.
•Named by Flewett in 1974.
•Most common cause of
severe gastroenteritis in
infants and young children.
•Universal

4. Virus shape and genome
structure

5. The rotavirus disease
•The disease causes acute gastroenteritis usually in
infants and small children.
•Symptoms include watery diarrhea, vomiting, fever and
abdominal pain.
•It is possible to become infected by the virus more than
once.
•The route of transmission for the virus is the fecal – oral
route.

6. Replication Cycle

7. Prevention and Treatment
Good hygiene
Rotavirus vaccines

8. References
•Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. Atkinson W, Wolfe S, Hamborsky
J, eds. 12th ed., second printing. Washington DC: Public Health Foundation, 2012.
•Flewett TH, Woode GN (1978). "The rotaviruses". Arch. Virol. 57 (1): 1–23. doi:10.1007/BF01315633. PMID 77663.
•Matthews RE (1979). "Third report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Classification and nomenclature of viruses".
Intervirology 12 (3–5): 129–296. doi:10.1159/000149081. PMID 43850.
•www.bmb.oxfordjournals.org - rotavirus and rotavirus vaccines
•www.cdc.gov - rotavirus/ home/ gastroenteritis/ CDC
•www.who.int - programmes/international travel and health/ disease information/ rotavirus
•www.viralvone.expasy.org
•M K Estes, J Cohen. ‘‘Rotavirus gene structure and function’’ Microbiol Rev. 1989 December; 53(4): 410–449.PMCID: PMC372748
vaccine images from: http://web.stanford.edu/group/virus/reo/2008/reoviridae.html