These infants should receive hepatitis B vaccine at birth. No data are available to support any harm caused by thimerosal. Hepatitis B is endemic in certain populations in Alaska. Immunization delays are likely to result in increased risk of transmission in early childhood and increase the possibility that the child will fail to complete the vaccine schedule. Intussusception is a relatively rare type of bowel obstruction that occurs when one segment of the bowel becomes enfolded within another segment.
Most cases are of unknown etiology.
Neither rotavirus disease nor rotavirus vaccine has been established as a cause of intussusception. Additional studies are now being planned by the CDC to determine if rotavirus vaccine causes intussusception.