General practitioner Neretin: the threat of rotavirus infection in the south is still real
Rotavirus is raging again at popular Russian Black Sea resorts. Instead of a long-awaited vacation, Russians often end up in hospital beds. Moreover, everyone is at risk – both adults and children. Lenta.ru found out how vacationers can protect themselves from infection and how to behave at the first symptoms of the disease.
In which resorts can you get infected with rotavirus?
Rospotrebnadzor Administration for Krasnodar Krai reported about the decrease in the incidence of rotavirus in Sochi. Representatives of the department stated that in the summer season of 2024, a decrease in the incidence of acute intestinal infections (AII) was observed in the resort city compared to the level of last year.
“Over seven months, the incidence rate of rotavirus has been characterized by stable average statistical indicators, amounting to 21 percent of the total number of acute intestinal infections,” the report says. “Experts do not associate the incidence of rotavirus infection with the quality of sea water.”
At the same time, tourists complain en masse about the dirty sea and sewage discharges into the water. In particular, Moscow Region resident Svetlana toldthat the whole family returned home from Adler with rotavirus, the children ended up in the hospital.
“We went to the Fregat beach, the stench there is unbearable,” she complained. “In the evening, the entire resort town stinks so much that you can’t open the windows. A stinking stream ran under the pier, we tried to move away to swim, to swim further away.”
I’m floating and I come across a piece of shit! A real one. It’s really awful. We used to vacation in the Lazarevsky district, there’s nothing like that there. The devil made me choose the Resort Town this year
Vladikavkaz resident Alina told Lenta.ru that before her trip to the Black Sea resort, many people scared her with rotavirus.
“But I couldn’t even imagine that it would affect me,” she shared. “I took all the protective measures: I observed hygiene, used antiseptic and didn’t eat in public places, but the infection still got to me.”
The Russian woman admitted that she and at least three other people from the group were vomiting non-stop for two days. At the same time, several hours before the aggravation of the condition, the tourist felt great. As a result, she even had to get injections and IVs. And the worst thing, according to the girl, is that you can catch the infection again.
Nikolai, a tourist from Chita, is sure that he caught rotavirus after swimming in the sea. According to him, in July it was so stinky that it hurt his eyes. As a result, the Russians were treated for a week.
“We take hygiene very seriously, we had a lot of disinfectant wet wipes with us, since the pandemic we have become accustomed to using antibacterial sprays,” the man said. “We didn’t eat anything on the beach. We were recovering by the end of the vacation, and we came home feeling weak.”
It turned out that the tourists had contracted an enterovirus in Sochi, so they are currently undergoing therapy. Nikolai’s wife had complications with her intestines, and his youngest daughter’s asthma worsened.
Rotavirus in children
In July, the Investigative Committee began investigating the circumstances of children being infected with rotavirus at a camp in Yevpatoriya. The media reported that at least 19 children felt unwell and sought medical help.
The head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin, instructed the head of the Main Investigative Department for Crimea, Vladimir Terentyev, to submit a report on the progress of the pre-investigation check and the established circumstances.
How to protect yourself from rotavirus at sea?
Meanwhile, Boris Nikolaevich Neretin, a physician of the highest category, noted in a conversation with Lenta.ru that the epidemiological situation on the Black Sea coast this year is significantly better than last year. This can be judged by the reduced number of requests from tourists.
“The number of severe cases of the disease has also decreased several times,” the specialist added. “Last year, we actively tested tourists. However, vacationers need to be on guard.”
There are at least two to three more weeks of warm weather ahead, which means that the threat of rotavirus infection is still real.
Neretin emphasized that rotavirus is treated quite well. At the same time, the doctor recommended that tourists avoid getting sea water in their mouths, observe basic hygiene, and promptly consult a doctor when the first symptoms of the disease appear.
“This may be a general malaise, nausea, fever and diarrhea,” he explained. “The virus occurs in a more severe form in people with concomitant pathologies, in particular, with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.”
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