Delaware Modern Pediatrics Blog » varicella http://blog.delawaremodernpediatrics.com Delaware Pediatrics and Medical Blog Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:17:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Vaccine for Chicken Pox saves lives http://blog.delawaremodernpediatrics.com/vaccine-for-chicken-pox-saves-lives/ http://blog.delawaremodernpediatrics.com/vaccine-for-chicken-pox-saves-lives/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:09:13 +0000 David Epstein M.D. http://blog.delawaremodernpediatrics.com/?p=305 New data shows that the chicken pox vaccine (Varivax®) prevents illness even better than we knew.

Death from chicken pox declined 88%, from 4.1 in ten million people to just 0.5 per ten million.  The study by the CDC was published in the August 2011 issue of the AAP journal Pediatrics, comparing death rates in the early ’90′s (before introduction of the vaccine) to the mid-2000′s.

This improvement occurred with a single injection.  Subsequently, a 2-dose regimen has been introduced, because other research has shown that 5% of children don’t achieve proper immunity to chickenpox from a single injection.

So we can expect even better numbers, the next time the numbers are run!

 

–  David Epstein, MD

]]> http://blog.delawaremodernpediatrics.com/vaccine-for-chicken-pox-saves-lives/feed/ 0 Chicken Pox Vaccine boosters are recommended for school children http://blog.delawaremodernpediatrics.com/chicken-pox-vaccine-boosters-are-recommended-for-school-children/ http://blog.delawaremodernpediatrics.com/chicken-pox-vaccine-boosters-are-recommended-for-school-children/#comments Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:31:26 +0000 David Epstein M.D. http://blog.delawaremodernpediatrics.com/?p=17 Beginning in 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC recommend that children who received their chicken pox vaccine as toddlers should receive a booster shot. This booster is suggested to be given by the time of kindergarten entry, but it may be given as early as 3 months after the initial shot.  Any child under age 12 who has received only the initial chicken pox immunization should be given the booster.  The CDC also says, “People 13 years of age and older who do not have evidence of immunity should get two doses of the vaccine 4 to 8 weeks apart.”

Some people wonder if vaccination for chicken pox is necessary at all, since many cases are mild and self limited.  Unfortunately, there are some children who suffer severe or permanent damage from the complications of chicken pox.  And public health experts point out that the cost to society of the parents’ lost days from work and school, to care for a week-long contagious illness, adds up over an entire population!

– David Epstein, MD

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