BACKGROUND: Withdrawal of the tetravalent rhesus- @entity1 rotavirus vaccine Rotashield because of its association with intussusception raised concerns about a potential link between @entity6425 and intussusception. Our objective was to determine whether such an association exists. METHODS: In the Southern California Kaiser Permanente Health Care Plan, a large health maintenance organization, from October, 1992, to July, 1999, we retrospectively identified by computerized data and medical charts all @entity1 <3 years old with intussusception, and from 1997 to 1999 we independently identified by prospective clinical and laboratory evaluation @entity1 <3 years old with rotavirus @entity294 . We compared the epidemiologic characteristics of intussusception and @entity6425 in our study population and evaluated for the presence of both diseases in individual @entity1 . RESULTS: Using computerized data we identified 124 cases of intussusception, 101 (81%) of which were confirmed by medical chart and radiologic reviews. The incidences for @entity1 <1 year old and for @entity1 <3 years old were 41 (95% confidence interval, 32 to 55) and 17 (95% confidence interval, 13 to 20) per 100,000 @entity1 years, respectively. Between November 1997 and July 1999, we identified 470 cases of rotavirus @entity294 and none had intussusception. Although rotavirus @entity294 had a distinct peak incidence between December and February, intussusception had no apparent seasonality. The age distributions overlapped, but intussusception occurred at an earlier age than @entity6425 . CONCLUSIONS: We found no epidemiologic evidence for an association between intussusception and @entity6425 , but our study was limited by an insufficient number of cases to definitively exclude a causal link. The dramatic winter peak of @entity6425 had no discernable parallel in the incidence of intussusception. Our data suggest that the association between tetravalent rhesus- @entity1 rotavirus vaccine and intussusception may possibly result from the nonhuman rotavirus components of that vaccine.

Lack of association between XXXX and intussusception: implications for use of attenuated rotavirus vaccines.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['children', 'human', 'patients', 'infants', 'child'] @entity6425 :: ('MESH:D012400', 'Disease') :: ['natural rotavirus infection', 'rotavirus infection', 'rotavirus disease', 'natural rotavirus disease'] @entity294 :: ('MESH:D003967', 'Disease') :: ['diarrhea']
@entity6425 :: (MESH:D012400,Disease) :: ['rotavirus infection']
