Persistent Infection with Rotavirus Vaccine Strain in Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) Child: Is Rotavirus Vaccination in SCID Children a Janus Face?

Maria Antonia De Francesco; Giovanni Ianiro; Marina Monini; Cesare Vezzoli; Richard Fabian Schumacher; Silvia Giliani; Giovanni Lorenzin; Francesca Gurrieri; Arnaldo Caruso

doi:10.3390/vaccines7040185

Persistent Infection with Rotavirus Vaccine Strain in Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) Child: Is Rotavirus Vaccination in SCID Children a Janus Face?

Vaccines (Basel). 2019 Nov 16;7(4):185. doi: 10.3390/vaccines7040185.

Authors

Maria Antonia De Francesco¹, Giovanni Ianiro², Marina Monini², Cesare Vezzoli³, Richard Fabian Schumacher⁴, Silvia Giliani⁵, Giovanni Lorenzin¹, Francesca Gurrieri¹, Arnaldo Caruso¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Microbiology, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia-Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
² Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy.
³ Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Children's Hospital, ASST-Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
⁴ Haemato-oncology and BMT Unit, Children's Hospital, ASST-Spedali Civili, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
⁵ A. Nocivelli Institute for Molecular Medicine, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy.

Abstract

We report the first case, to our knowledge, in Italy, of a severe combined immunodeficiency patient with a persistent rotavirus infection due to a vaccine derived strain. Rotavirus was detected by enzyme immunoassays and RT-PCR in stool specimens for five months. The persistent infection was resolved after complete immune reconstitution achieved by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This case underlines the importance of neonatal SCID_screening.

Keywords: SCID; rotavirus; transplantation; vaccination.

Publication types

Case Reports