# Can you describe the Rotavirus smell?



## Jaimee (Jun 7, 2007)

I have heard that Rotavirus diarrhea has a very distinctive odor. One that you do not forget once you've smelled it and one that allowed nurses to correctly diagnose 69% of Rota babies in a hospital study based on smell alone.

So, I think dd might have Rotavirus, but I'm not sure. Her diarrhea definitely smells different than her normal poop. I can smell her gas and when she fills her diaper from across the room. I cloth diaper and I removed as much of the diarrhea as possible before washing and sprayed with Bac-Out. But after washing her diapers today with my normal routine, they still reeked. They smell something like sharply sweet wet dog...?

For those of you that have experienced Rota, can you describe the smell for me?

Thanks!


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## sbgrace (Sep 22, 2004)

I really don't know how to describe it but I am positive I would recognize it again. Very, very foul. It's just extremely stinky. I wouldn't have described it as dog but it is sweet/foul mixed sort of. It's bad-as in made me close to vomitting but I can't put my finger exactly on the odor.

It typically starts with vomitting with fever initially and then diarrhea kicks in and the espisodes are frequent.

I also found rotavirus to be explosive...as in not just changing the diaper but the clothes and the sheets and whatever. I changed sheets at least three times per night per kid. Frequent, explosive stools. We had it times three (I was babysitting at the time and all three kids got it) and I switched soon into disposable diapers for the duration. I was doing enough laundry and couldn't keep up with diapers we were going through them so fast.

The thing that is distinctive about rotavirus is usually that it hangs on and on--up to 10 days though if you're nursing I think it will be shorter and probably less horrible by a lot.
As long as she's hydrated it's ok.


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## Jaimee (Jun 7, 2007)

Dd didn't have a noticeable fever, maybe she was a bit clammy one night, but nothing major. She's thrown up a handful of times, some all out, some just gagging. I've also heard that rota is accompanied by sneezing, coughing, and cramps. She doesn't have any of these either. Could it still be rota, but just a mild case since she is bf on demand still?

I guess I'll know if this lasts more than a few days!


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## Jaimee (Jun 7, 2007)

Ugh. We had middle of the night vomitting and explosive diarrhea. I don't even remember the last time I had to change dd in the night.









Anyone else able to descibe the smell?


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## milkybean (Mar 19, 2008)

I can't describe it, but.....

I had read that there was a distinctive smell. And although I was used to a variety of smells from his diaper region, when he had rota, the strange and foul smell was enough for me. When I smelled it I thought "aha, that's what it is". There was no question for me, it was THAT distinctive and abnormal.

And it smelled like nothing else in my experience.


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## kristi2013 (Jun 11, 2013)

When my kids had it - I want to say it almost smelled like steamed turnips or asparagus... Can anyone else describe it to smell like that?


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## Ethelpea (Mar 3, 2010)

a fishy-foul smell to me.


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