To the Editor.—
I read with great interest the article by Haber et al,1 who studied intussusception after implementation of RotaTeq vaccination by using the passive Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the active Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) surveillance systems. Two important points bear mentioning.
First, data from this study should not be misconstrued to support RotaTeq administration outside the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–licensed window.2 Although debated, reanalysis of the RotaShield data suggests that much of the risk of intussusception occurred in patients receiving RotaShield late (eg, first dose at 4 or 6 months).3–5 Compliance with recommendations to administer the first dose of RotaTeq at 6 to 12 weeks has been high (92%).1 Thus, although fewer than 8% of children received their first dose at >90 days, a relatively large percentage (19% [3 of 16]) of children with intussusception from...
