Why Your Child Should Be Immunized For Chickenpox
Stephen Rittenhouse, D.O.
Landisville Family Health Center
"Reprinted From Lancaster County Woman Newspaper."
Chickenpox (varicella) is a common infection among children in the United States. Before a mass immunization program became available, approximately four million cases occurred a year. Although most cases were mild, ten thousand infections resulted in hospitalizations and one hundred cases resulted in death each year. Half of these hospitalizations and deaths occurred in children. Other common complications of varicella infection include lost time from school averaging five to seven days and lost time at work for the parent. Adults who get chickenpox have a higher severity of disease and level of complication. Varicella infection in pregnancy is particularly concerning, as it can cause fetal demise and miscarriage.
The vaccine has been shown to be effective and safe. It is about 70-90% effective in preventing varicella infection, and almost 100% effective in preventing severe varicella infection. Those children who received the vaccine and still had infection had a much more mild disease with shorter time frame and a lower fever. Complications from the vaccine include pain at the vaccine site (20%) and very mild varicella outbreak at the injection site (3-5%). Breakthrough disease immediately after vaccine in children is usually of very short duration with fewer than fifty lesions and low-grade or no fever. Only those children with a significant immunodeficiency such as leukemia or lymphoma are not recommended to get the vaccine.
Recipients of the vaccine had a decreased rate of shingles (herpes zoster) later in life, and long-term studies have not shown any waning immunity as far as twenty years after immunization.
Recommended guideline for getting varicella vaccine:
- Children older than one year, one time vaccine
- Children older than thirteen years or adults who have not had varicella, two vaccines for varicella at least four weeks apart.
Please speak to your Family Physician or Pediatrician about whether your child has been immunized.