Rotavirus Vaccination and Intussusception — Act Two

The development of vaccines has been a triumph of modern medicine.1 In addition to the eradication of smallpox and the near-eradication of polio, the past 30 years has seen an impressive decline in many vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, hepatitis B virus, serious pneumococcal infection, hemophilus influenza, and, recently, rotavirus. Vaccination has been an enormously powerful force for health improvement because of the large societal benefits provided with remarkably small risks. However, some have expressed worry that current vaccines are dangerous and represent a considerable threat to the health of the recipients.2 These concerns often do not include an analysis of . . .