Age: 0.2
Sex: M
Vaccine: DTIPV, HBHEPB, PPV, RVX
Symptoms: Constipation, X-ray abnormal
Clinical narrative: On 10/25/2007 my child was given vaccines, which are recommended at 2-month-old age. RotaTeq was the only oral vaccine given. Before 10/25/07 my child had regular stool several times a day. My son is on breast milk only. There were no unusual effects associated with my child's bowl movements. On the next day after the vaccination his stool was reduced to 2 times a day, on the day after to only one time a day, and on the third day there was no stool at all. I contacted a nurse on call at the pediatric care facility off-hours telephone number, and she said that it is OK for a baby not to have stool for up to 10 days because the breast milk gets absorbed so efficiently. She recommended using glycerin suppositories. I waited for 5 days and started using the glycerin. There was a lot of thick mass coming out of my child, which did not look like efficiently absorbed milk. The child passes gas, and there is no change in his behavior other than there is no stool. I use the suppositories for 2 month already, and there is no improvement in the child's bowl movement. He is 4 month old now, and I tried to add some cereal and a vegetable hoping that he starts "going" on his own, but there is no luck. I made an appointment with our doctor, and described what happened. I said that it started right after the vaccination. I asked if it could be a reaction to the RotaTeq vaccine since it was the only oral vaccine, and there were adverse effects recorded in prior years for rotavirus vaccine (RotaShield?) The doctor said there is no connection between the stool problem and the vaccine, and that it is just a coincidence. He said that "babies do that", and prescribed Karo syrup. The doctor refused to refer us to any specialist or to do an additional lab study even after I asked for it. The only study I was referred to was X-ray of esophagus and stomach in relation to possible reflux. I asked doctor if there could be a problem with gallbladder or liver, or maybe anything else. Doctor said, "there is none of that" without doing any studies. I also told the doctor that I did not know what to do, and I tried to give my baby over-the-counter lactobacteria, and it did help - my child had stool just one time on his own. Doctor said that he would not recommend giving my child such medicine. I asked doctor if there could be an infection such as staphylococcus, but the doctor said in such case the baby would have a fever, diarrhea, and pus in his stool. I am not sure if the RotaTeq was the cause of stool problem because there was no study done by the doctor.  I am not sure in what combination the shots I listed were given. When I asked for lot numbers the doctor said they do not have the lot numbers available right away, and I would need to wait a long time to find out. When I asked a nurse to provide manufacturers names or brand names of the vaccines she looked confused and she said that the vaccines are called "rotavirus", "Hepatitis B", "Polio" and so on, and there are no other names for the vaccines. When I asked to look at the bottles and see if there is any other name she got even more confused. I was not able to get either manufacturer or lot number.