Rotavirus cases nearly triple as mother explains vaccination choice

Rotavirus infections recorded in Finland have nearly tripled from last year, while vaccination coverage for children is lowest in several regions, Yle reports. A mother in Kokkola says her children’s vaccine side effects would be minor compared with the illness.

Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare, known as THL, says the number of cases entered in its infectious disease register is far higher this year than in recent years. The figures, recorded through October 22, include only a small proportion of people who become ill.

Rotavirus causes diarrhoea, vomiting and fever, and can lead to severe dehydration in young children. Laboratory-confirmed infections have increased in Central, South and North Ostrobothnia, where vaccination coverage among children born in 2023 is the lowest in the country.

However, low vaccination coverage does not explain the increase, says THL research professor Tuija Leino. Cases have risen across all age groups and most sharply among older people. In South Ostrobothnia, cases have nearly quadrupled, with most among people over 75 and often requiring hospital treatment.

Leino says the vaccine does not provide broad herd immunity, so vaccination does not protect the wider population. She considers it important for children themselves, particularly when the virus is circulating widely.

Ursula Vikman, a mother in Kokkola, says vaccination was an obvious choice for her family. Her three-year-old and five-month-old children have had no significant side effects. She says some parents worry about stomach problems and poor sleep after vaccination, but considers those minor compared with the risk of dehydration from the disease.

Vikman says she had rotavirus before the age of two and became dangerously dehydrated. Yle says it could not verify her account because records from that period were not available in the national MyKanta service.

The rotavirus vaccine is given by mouth at two, three and five months of age, and its effectiveness wanes by a child’s third birthday. THL says the virus currently circulating is not more aggressive than usual. Increased testing may account for part of the rise in recorded cases, although testing practices differ widely between wellbeing services counties.