Chicken Pox Vaccine


Chicken Pox (also known as varicella, or varicella-zoster) is a viral illness characterized by specific symptoms, including fever, headache and congestion, followed by a rash. The rash usually starts as red spots that then fill with fluid (vesicles) and go on to crust and disappear, sometimes with a small scar. The rash can appear anywhere on the body. The average child gets 300 spots.


Varicella Vaccine Remains Controversial

Routine vaccination of children against varicella remains controversial. A survey of 172 physicians in Rochester, NY, was aimed at evaluating which physicians vaccinate their patients against varicella, which don't, and why.

About three-quarters of physicians surveyed were pediatricians; the remainder were mostly family practitioners or specialists in internal medicine (1%).

The survey results showed that pediatricians were more likely than FP's or IM's to offer the vaccine. That was especially true of pediatricians whose patients were covered by private insurance plans.

Overall, 63% of doctors administered the vaccine to some or all varicella-susceptible children 5 years and younger; 57% administered it to children 6-11 years old; and 74% gave it to adolescents 12 years and older. The reasons most often provided for not vaccinating were:

  • Varicella is a "normal part of childhood"

  • Concerns that the vaccine may cause varicella to become a more serious "adult" illness

  • Children get enough immunizations already

  • Only immunocompromised children should be vaccinated

  • Mass vaccination is too expensive

Schaffer SJ, Bruno S   Varicella immunization practices and the factors that influence them   Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1999 (Apr);   153 (4):   357-362



Chickenpox Vaccine May Increase Shingles Risk in Elderly

Vaccinating children against chickenpox (varicella) could increase the risk that adults would develop shingles, a painful blistering rash that is potentially dangerous in the elderly.

A team, at Britain's Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS), said that although vaccination would save thousands of lives over time, thousands of elderly people could also die from the complications of shingles, known as herpes zoster.

Writing in the journal Vaccine, they called for a re-evaluation of the policy of mass chickenpox vaccination that has been introduced already in the United States and is imminent in many other countries. In 1995, the chickenpox vaccine was approved for use in children over 1 year of age in the US and is now required for school entry.

After a bout of naturally-occuring chickenpox, the varicella zoster virus remains dormant in the body and may reactivate decades later to cause shingles, a painful rash that typically strikes chickenpox veterans after the age of 60.

Marc Brisson and his team say their research shows that adults living with children have more exposure to the virus that causes chickenpox and enjoy high levels of protection against shingles. Being close to children means that adults are exposed to the virus, which acts like a booster vaccine against shingles, they believe. But if all children were vaccinated, adults who have had chickenpox would no longer be protected against developing shingles.

The researchers worked out a mathematical model that predicts that eliminating chickenpox in a country the size of the United States would prevent 186 million cases of the disease and 5,000 deaths over 50 years.

However they said it could also result in 21 million more cases of shingles and 5,000 deaths.