Cases of a highly contagious virus, that’s especially dangerous for babies, is spreading across the country, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n
Rotavirus<\/a> has been rising across the U.S. since January, the CDC’s virus surveillance tracker<\/a> showed. <\/p>\n The seasonal virus is most common in infants and young children, with symptoms like severe watery diarrhea, vomiting and fever.<\/p>\n Individual rotavirus cases are not reportable in Illinois, meaning hospitals aren’t required to track cases, and no outbreaks have been reported so far in 2026. <\/p>\n However, the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital said it has seen a significant increase in viral gastroenteritis cases, which would include rotavirus.<\/p>\n Beth Rich from suburban Deerfield chose to vaccinate her 2-month-old son against rotavirus, but is still making changes to her family’s summer travel plans as a precaution as vaccine hesitancy grows.<\/p>\n “Until he’s has more of his vaccines under his belt, we probably won’t do a lot of like airport travel,” said Rich. “It’s scary to think that other people in our orbit might be changing their minds and might be exposing our kids to more.”<\/p>\n The Rich family pediatrician, Dr. Dimple Damani, said people are getting mixed messages.<\/p>\n In January, the CDC shifted the rotavirus vaccine from a universal recommendation to \u201cshared clinical decision-making,\u201d meaning it’s up to providers and patients to decide on whether or not to get the vaccine, rather than a blanket recommendation.<\/p>\n “It’s really just confusion from the federal government and mixed messages that are making people have second thoughts about some of these vaccines,” Dimple, a pediatrician at PediaTrust, said. “If you don’t see your pediatrician as a trusted source, and you are hesitant to ask them questions, then you might be doing your own research and not getting the information that is based on sound, scientific data.”<\/p>\n Illinois did not adopt the updated federal guidelines, instead choosing to embrace the American Academy of Pediatrics’ vaccine schedule.<\/p>\n