Vaccine-Acquired Rotavirus in Infants with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency

Live pentavalent human-bovine reassortant rotavirus vaccine is recommended in the United States for routine immunization of infants. We describe three infants, two with failure to thrive, who had dehydration and diarrhea within 1 month after their first or second rotavirus immunization and subsequently received a diagnosis of severe combined immunodeficiency. Rotavirus was detected, by means of reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay, in stool specimens obtained from all three infants, and gene-sequence analysis revealed the presence of vaccine rotavirus. These infections raise concerns regarding the safety of rotavirus vaccine in severely immunocompromised patients.