KEYWORDS:
Surveillance, Rotashield, Vaccination Coverage.

BACKGROUND:
Within 9 months of Rotashield licensure on August 31, 1998, 15 cases of intussusception were reported to the CDC among children receiving the vaccine. Rotashield administration was suspended July 16, 1999. Subsequent studies found the risk of intussusception was increased significantly following the administration of the first dose of Rotashield. Estimates of vaccine uptake are used in the determination of the vaccine attributable risk of intussusception. These estimates are necessary for planning future vaccine trials.

OBJECTIVE(S):
To present national and state estimates of the number of doses of Rotashield administered and the percentage of children receiving 1 or more dose of Rotashield. Also, we describe the characteristics of children who received Rotashield.

METHOD(S):
We used data collected from the 1999-2001 National Immunization Survey (NIS) to estimate Rotashield uptake.

RESULT(S):
Approximately 4.5 million children were eligible to receive Rotashield according to ACIP recommendations when Rotashield was available. Nationally, approximately 1,042,000 doses of Rotashield were administered; 11.8% (±1.3%) of all children eligible received one or more dose. The estimated coverage rate by state ranged from less than 1% (NH, NM, OR, SD, VT, WA, WY) to 30.5% (NE). The earliest birth cohort eligible to receive Rotashield was born in Q2/1998 and achieved a coverage rate of 2.3% (±1.1%); the birth cohort born in Q1/1999 achieved a coverage rate of 22.8% (±4.1%). Children receiving Rotashield were more likely to be white and to be living in upper socio-economic conditions, p<0.05.

CONCLUSIONS(S):
Results from the NIS provide independent estimates of Rotashield uptake in the U.S. Variability in uptake by state and demographic group likely reflects public sector vaccine availability.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To document the uptake of the first oral rotavirus vaccine.