Parents should be alerted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) public health notification regarding the rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeg, Merck & Co., Inc.). The rotavirus vaccine is administered to pediatric patients to prevent the rotavirus viral infection from occurring, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, fever and dehydration.

The FDA's notification was announced on February 14 following 28 after market reports of infants who have developed intussusception, which can cause an obstruction in the intestines. The discovery made from these 28 reported pediatric cases all occurred after full-dose vaccinations were given

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday warned about the ill-effects of using the recently approved vaccine, called RotaTeq, after the drug was linked to a twisting of the intestines in infants as well as early childhood diarrhea.

In 1996, the vaccine RotaShield, made by Wyeth for the rotavirus was withdrawn from the U.S. market following similar symptoms; a condition called intussusception. However, intussusception can also occur spontaneously in the absence of a vaccination

Children infected with Rotavirus, which causes severe diarrhea, can now be treated with nitazoxanide.

According to the Lancet, the virus kills over half a million youngsters in mainly poor countries each year

An influential federal advisory panel recommended Tuesday that every U.S. infant be vaccinated against rotavirus, a common and potentially fatal cause of childhood diarrhea and vomiting.

Children should receive a three-dose vaccination series during roughly the first six months after birth, according to a unanimous vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

Federal officials approve a new vaccine by New Jersey-based Merck that protects infants from rotavirus. The disease causes diarrhea and dehydration and leads to hundreds of thousands of deaths a year in developing countries.

In the U.S., more than 70,000 children are hospitalized each year because of the infection.But in trials, RotaTeq prevented at least 98 percent of severe cases of gastroenteritis, or intestinal inflammation. It was tested on 60-thousand babies