June 17, 2010
Infants diagnosed with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) should not be given rotavirus vaccine.

In response to 8 cases of vaccine-acquired rotavirus infection in infants with SCID reported in the literature and to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), SCID has been added by the FDA and recommended by the CDC and the AAP as a contraindication for administration of either licensed oral rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq (RV5) by Merck and Rotarix (RV1) by GlaxoSmithKline.

There are approximately 40-100 new cases of SCID diagnosed among infants in the US each year. The median age at diagnosis of SCID is 4-7 months, which overlaps with the recommended ages for rotavirus vaccination (ages 2, 4, and 6 months for RV5; ages 2 and 4 months for RV1).

See official notification in the June 11, 2010 MMWR.