Rotavirus vaccine now available for Nova Scotian babies
A vaccine that helps prevent a highly contagious stomach virus is now available to Nova Scotia babies born on or after Nov. 1, 2019.
The province moved to cover the rotavirus vaccine under its publicly funded childhood immunization program last fall.
Nova Scotia was the last province in Canada to provide coverage, which drew criticism from contagious disease experts who lobbied the province for years to fund the vaccine.
Halifax immunologist Scott Halperin told The Chronicle Herald last spring that the lack of coverage was “unconscionable.”
The vaccine is available in family doctors’ offices, primary care clinics and local public health offices, the Health Department said in a news release on Jan. 2.
The most common symptoms of rotavirus are vomiting, diarrhea and fever.
While deaths from rotavirus in Nova Scotia are rare, many babies and young children end up at emergency departments and sometimes have to be hospitalized for intravenous treatments to combat the effects of dehydration that accompany severe diarrhea.
Every baby is likely to contract the virus by the age of two, Halperin said.
"When parents take their babies for their two-month check-ups, the rotavirus vaccine is now among the vaccinations they will be offered through the publicly funded immunization program," said Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, in the news release. "This is an important step forward in protecting infants against common childhood illnesses."
Other vaccines given to Nova Scotian children at two, four and six months of age include diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Haemophilus influenza type B.