Parents in Kisii have been urged to take their children aged between six weeks to six months for rotavirus vaccination so as to protect them from the viral diarrhoeal disease.
Speaking from her office at Iyabe Level 4 Hospital on Thursday, Grace Mochere, a medical practitioner, said that the vaccine is meant to protect infants from the virus which causes severe diarrhoea and eventually resulted to untimely deaths.
According to the medical practitioner, infants are more vulnerable to the disease and it was the duty of the mothers to take precautions by availing them for vaccination.
“Rotavirus is the second leading cause of deaths in children under five years and if not adequately addressed, it may become fatal. This is why we are encouraging parents to ensure their children get vaccinated," she said.
Mochere advised parents to take their children to the nearest health facility for vaccination to keep their children healthy.
She added the jab could be given at any health centre whether private or public.
"Two out of 24 children born in a day are at risk of contracting this infection therefore parents have the task of ensuring that their children lead a healthy life," said Mochere.
She also added that the vaccine was initially offered in big hospitals like Kenyatta, Nairobi but now it had been introduced in most health centres making it easily accessible by people from all walks of life.
Each year, an estimated 453,000 children most of whom reside in developing countries die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by the rotavirus.