ROTAVIRUS- Ayurvedic Treatment, Diet, Exercises, Research Papers, Yoga & Pranayama

Rotavirus is a type of infection that’s most common in children under the age of 5. It’s highly contagious and easily transmittable. While it occurs most often in young children, adults can also get the infection, although it’s usually less severe. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhoeal disease in young children throughout the world. According to WHO estimates in 2013 about 215 000 children aged under 5 years die each year from vaccine-preventable rotavirus infections; the vast majority of these children live in low-income countries.

As the babies are highly prone to dehydration, as they have an undeveloped immune system and weak body compared to adults, diarrhoea can be fatal in them if not managed on time. In very small babies, diagnosis and treatment are more difficult due to lack of verbal communication. Though doctors & hospital care are crucial, parent’s attention to the baby is equally important.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Following symptoms usually start about 2 days after a person is exposed to rotavirus:

  • Severe watery diarrhoea
  • vomiting
  • fever
  • abdominal pain

Vomiting and watery diarrhoea can last from 3 to 8 days. Additional symptoms may include loss of appetite and dehydration (loss of body fluids), which can be especially dangerous for infants and young children.

Symptoms of dehydration include:

  • decreased urination
  • dry mouth and throat
  • feeling dizzy when standing up
  • crying with few or no tears and
  • unusual sleepiness or fussiness

Rotavirus disease is most common in infants and young children. However, older children and adults also can get sick from rotavirus. Adults who get rotavirus disease tend to have milder symptoms.

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

Rotavirus primarily infects enterocytes and induces diarrhoea through the destruction of absorptive enterocytes (leading to malabsorption), intestinal secretion stimulated by rotavirus non-structural protein 4 and activation of the enteric nervous system. In addition, rotavirus infections can lead to antigenaemia (which is associated with more severe manifestations of acute gastroenteritis) and viraemia, and rotavirus can replicate in systemic sites, although this is limited.

DIAGNOSIS

It is tough to diagnose in an acute & severe case. Clinically, rotavirus infections are often more severe than diarrhoeal diseases caused by other infectious agents. In addition, the seasonality of infection can indicate rotavirus as the causative agent in some regions; for example, in non-equatorial countries, rotavirus or norovirus infection is suggested if a child presents with diarrhoea in winter.

In a laboratory setting, rotavirus antigen can be detected in stools using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or immunochromatography. In vaccine and epidemiological studies, these assays are often complemented by the use of reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR)-based assays

TREATMENTS

There is no specific medicine to treat rotavirus infection.

As in any other viral infection, symptomatic treatment can be given. Since rotavirus disease can cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea, it can lead to dehydration (loss of body fluids). The best way to protect against dehydration is to drink plenty of liquids. Oral and intravenous rehydration solutions are often helpful.

PROGNOSIS

Rotavirus infection is a self-limited disease that resolves after three to nine days of symptoms.

COMPLICATIONS

dehydration

metabolic acidosis

fever

Afebrile and febrile seizures

 transient reduced consciousness

encephalopathy.

DISEASE AND AYURVEDA

Atisaara

NIDANA

Excess water intake

Intake of dry meat & meat of emaciated animal

Food which is not habitual or suitable to body

Sesame (dry, grinded and oil removed)

Sprouts

Alcohol

Dry food intake

Excess food intake

Haemorrhoids

Faulty routine during ghee intake (as a treatment)

Intestinal parasites

Suppression of natural urges

PURVARUPA

        Pricking pain in chest, rectum and abdomen

            Weakness of body

            Constipation

            Distended abdomen

            Indigestion

SAMPRAPTI

        Due to the causative factors, Vaata dosha vitiates and brings the water content in the body into the koshtha and expels through anus. With this excess water in koshtha, reduces the Agni (digestive fire), damages the gastrointestinal tract along with faecal matter and causes loose stools. It makes the stool watery and the disease diarrhoea gets manifested especially in people who eat unwholesome diet.

LAKSHANA

        Vaathika

                        Watery, more frequent stools with obstruction

                        Defaecation with pain & abnormal sounds

                        Dry, frothy/clear or hardened stools

                        Resembles over-cooked jaggery

                        Sticky stools passed with severe tearing pain

                        Dryness of mouth

                        Rectal prolapse

                        Horripilation

                        Groaning

            Paittika

                        Yellow, black, green like grass,

                        With blood

                        Foul smelling,

                        Excess thirst

                        Fainting/giddiness

                        Excess sweating

                        Burning sensation

                        Abdominal pain

                        Heat and inflammation of rectum & anus

Kaphaja

Heavy, sticky, with thread-like structures, white in colour, oily & sticky, faeces with particles of undigested food

Irregular & interrupted flow containing only a little faecal matter in one vega with mucous &foul smell,

With flatulence

Pain

Excess sleep

Lazy

Aversion to food

Horripilation

Feeling that not completely voided faeces after defaecation

Sannipatajam

                        All three doshalakshanas are present

Bhayajam and Shokajam

(Resembles Vaata-Pitta akshanas)

            Very hot and liquified stools

                        Very light & floating

            Divisions

        6 types

  • Vaatika
  • Paittika
  • Kaphaja
  • Thridoshaja or sannipaatika
  • Bhayajam (due to fear/anxiety)
  • Sokajam (due to grief)

2 types

Saamam          – with indigestion

Niraamam       – without indigestion

2 types

Saraktam         – with bleeding

Araktam          – without bleeding

Prognosis

Kricchrasadhya in healthy individuals without any complications & dhatudushti.

Asaadhya in children, old persons and with complications. 

Chikithsa

        Ayurveda treatment for atisaara includes fasting as an important method in adults. It can not be done in small babies & children as they are asampoornadhatu (not completely developed body tissues). In children, proper hydration and nourishment is ensured during the treatment.

Samana

Langhana        – fasting (only in adults)

Upekshaa        – Leaving the body to expel out the excess doshas by atisaara(only in adults)

Aamapachana

Agnideepana

Sodhana

No sodhana is done in children unless fatal & emergency condition.

Therapies done in adults for sodhana include:

Vamana – In atisaara with severe abdominal pain & distension

Snehavasti

Kashayavasti-Picchavasti

Commonly used medicines

                Vilwadi gulika

                        Kutajarishtam

                        Pippallyasavam

                        Dadimashtakachoornam

                        Brands available

AVS Kottakal

AVP Coimbatore

SNA Oushadhasala

Home remedies

Taking Oral Rehydration Therapy: Mix one glass of boiled water with one teaspoon of sugar & one pinch of salt. Take it sip by sip for 3-4 hours. This is the simplest method of rehydration which can be done at home.

Moderate fasting on solid foods till feeling better & hungry.(only in adults)

Fenugreek seeds boiled in water for drinking

Carminatives like cumin seeds help correct the indigestion

Buttermilk boiled with turmeric, curry leaves, ginger, etc.

Diet

  • To be avoided

Heavy meals and difficult to digest foods – cause indigestion.

 junk foods- cause disturbance in digestion and reduces the bioavailability of the medicine

 carbonated drinks – makes the stomach more acidic and disturbed digestion

refrigerated and frozen foods – causes weak and sluggish digestion by weakening agni (digestive fire)

 curd – causes vidaaha and thereby many other diseases

  • To be added

Drink only boiled water

Light meals and easily digestible foods

Green gram, soups, buttermilk boiled with turmeric, ginger and curry leaves

 freshly cooked and warm food processed with cumin seeds, ginger, black pepper, ajwain etc

Behaviour:

Better to avoid exposure to excessive sunlight wind rain or dust.

Avoid lifting heavy weights and other vigorous physical activities.

Maintain a regular food and sleep schedule.

Avoid sitting continuously for a long time and avoid squatting.

Yoga

Yoga is not advised in children with Rotavirus infection. Complete bedrest is advised for even an adult patient with loose stools. After regaining normal health, following a daily exercise routine will help the person to improve digestion & health.

Stretching exercises and specific yoga asanas like pavanamuktasana, vajrasana, bhujangasana etc are recommended.

Regular exercise helps improve bioavailability of the medicine and food ingested and leads to positive health.

 Yoga can maintain harmony within and with surroundings.

Pavanamuktasana

Vajrasana

Bhujangasana

Exercises for Low backache

All the exercises and physical exertions must be decided and done under the supervision of a medical expert only.

RESEARCH ARTICLES

DOI: 10.3945/jn.116.246090 

In the study, the effect of specific and abundant milk oligosaccharides on the infectivity of 2 globally dominant human rotavirus strains was determined. Four milk oligosaccharides-2′-fucosyllactose (2’FL), 3′-sialyllactose (3’SL), 6′-sialyllactose (6’SL), and galacto-oligosaccharides-were tested for their effects on the infectivity of human rotaviruses G1P and G2P through fluorescent focus assays on African green monkey kidney epithelial cells (MA104 cells). It was concluded that milk oligosaccharides reduce the infectivity of human rotaviruses in MA104 cells, primarily through an effect on the virus.

DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00027-15

To learn how temperature and solar treatments inactivate the virus on a molecular level, an approach was made to correlate rotavirus inactivation with the inhibition of portions of the  virus life cycle as a means to identify the mechanisms of solar or heat inactivation. Specifically, the integrity of the rotavirus NSP3 gene, virus-host cell interaction, and viral RNA synthesis were examined after heat (57°C) or solar treatment of rotavirus. Only the inhibition of viral RNA synthesis positively correlated with a loss of rotavirus infectivity; 57°C treatment of rotavirus resulted in a decrease of rotavirus RNA synthesis at the same rate as rotavirus infectivity. These data suggest that heat treatment neutralized rotaviruses primarily by targeting viral transcription functions. In contrast, when using solar disinfection, the decrease in RNA synthesis was responsible for approximately one-half of the decrease in infectivity, suggesting that other mechanisms, including posttranslational, contribute to inactivation. Nevertheless, both solar and heat inactivation of rotaviruses disrupted viral RNA synthesis as a mechanism for inactivation.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, United States. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Please consult your GP before the intake.

Dr. Rajesh Nair, Ayurveda Doctor from Kerala, India

Writer:
Dr. Rajesh Nair, the co-founder and chief consultant of Ayurvedaforall.Com, is a graduate of prestigious Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College (affiliated with the University of Calicut), Kerala, India. Additionally, he holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Yoga Therapy from Annamalai University.

Dr. Nair offers consultation at two busy clinics in and around Haripad, Alleppey, Kerala, the southern state famous worldwide for authentic ayurvedic treatment and physicians. While offering consultation on all aspects of ayurvedic treatments Dr. Nair has a special interest in Panchkarma, Yoga, and Massage.

Through Ayurvedaforall Dr. Nair offers online consultation to patients worldwide and has served hundreds of patients over the last 20 years. In addition to his Ayurvedic practice, he is the chief editor of ayurveda-amai.org, the online portal of Ayurveda Medical Association of India, and the state committee member of Ayurveda Medical Association of India.

Dr. Nair is a regular speaker at Ayurveda-related conferences and has visited Germany to propagate Ayurveda. You can write directly to him-
rajesh@ayurvedaforall.com

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