A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has revealed that the rotavirus vaccine is associated with an increased risk of intussusception.
Intussusception is a bowel disorder where the intestines are pulled inside themselves causing a blockage. It is life threatening and requires immediate medical attention. The involved part of the intestine is compressed so the blood flow to the area is greatly reduced, which may cause that part of the intestine to die and lead to shock in the patient. Rapid detection is needed to avoid sepsis and possible death.
Symptoms of intussusception include abdominal pain, vomiting (babies will cry loudly and draw their legs up in pain), passing stools that are like jelly and have blood in them, fever, paleness and drowsiness.
Depending on the severity of the condition, intussusception can be treated with an enema to reverse the bowel obstruction. If the bowel has ruptured, this cannot be done because the enema itself can cause bowel perforation. More severe cases are treated by surgery to repair the bowel. Sometimes, part of the bowel has to be removed if a section of it has died.
About 615 patients were enrolled to receive a new rotavirus vaccine, RV1, and a further 2,050 people were enrolled as the control group. The medical journal didn’t say whether the control group was also vaccinated with other vaccines or what the placebo was.
In Mexico, there was an increased risk of intussusception between one and seven days after the first dose of RV1. In Brazil, an increased risk was noted one to seven days after the second dose of RV1, which amounted to one in 51,000 infants in Mexico, and one in 68,000 infants in Brazil.
This isn’t the first time such an association has been made. In October of 1999, the original rotavirus vaccine, RotaShield, was withdrawn 14 months after its approval by the FDA because it caused intussusception in about one in every 10,000 children. During that time, two children died, 47 required medical care and 53 needed surgery to fix bowel obstructions following vaccination.