Parents in Kikuyu have been advised to take their children aged between six weeks to six months for rotavirus vaccination so as to cushion them from the viral diarrhoeal disease.
Speaking in her office on Monday, Ms Anne Lima from Grace Medical Clinic in Kikuyu, said the vaccine was meant to protect infants from viruses which caused 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 in children under five years is the second leading cause of deaths and if not adequately addressed, it may become fatal, therefore the need for the jab," said Lima.
She advised parents to take their children to the nearest health facility for vaccination to keep their children healthy.
Lima said the jab could be given at any health centre whether private or public.
"Two out of twenty four 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," she said.
Lima further said that since the vaccine was freely available in various clinics and hospitals, parents ought to take the chance of visiting health centres to receive the vaccine.
She said the vaccine was initially offered in big hospitals like Kenyatta and Nairobi but now it had been introduced in most health centres making it easily accessible by people from all walks of life.