Children's Vaccines Health Center
Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine
If you're a betting person, think chickenpox. Pick any adult out of a crowd. The odds that he or she has had chickenpox are about as close to a sure thing as you're ever going to get. But those odds are changing now that we have the chickenpox vaccine.
What Is the Chickenpox Vaccine?
The chickenpox vaccine is a shot that can protect nearly everyone who gets it from catching chickenpox. It's also called the varicella vaccine because chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The vaccine is made from the live but weakened, or attenuated, virus.
Viruses that have been attenuated are less virulent than viruses that are not. Although the virus in the chickenpox vaccine is generally incapable of causing a disease, it still stimulates a response from the body's immune system. That response is what gives someone who's had a shot for chickenpox immunity from the illness.
Why Do People Need a Chickenpox Vaccine?
Most cases of chickenpox are relatively mild and run their course in five to 10 days. But it can be very serious, even life threatening, in a small percentage of cases. Before the varicella vaccine was licensed in the U.S. in 1995, there were approximately 100 deaths and more than 11,000 hospitalizations a year from chickenpox. Most of the people who died were healthy before they got chickenpox.
The risk of serious, life-threatening complications is greatest among infants, adults, and people with weakened immune systems. But anyone can develop serious complications and there is no way to predict who will.
There's another reason for getting a shot for chickenpox. The illness is highly contagious and can be spread by direct contact or through the air by sneezing or coughing. Also, someone can get it by coming in contact with fluid from chickenpox blisters. For that reason, children with chickenpox need to be kept out of school or day care for about a week or more; parents may need to miss work as a result. Also, the illness causes an itchy rash that usually forms between 200 and 500 blisters over the entire body, headaches, coughing, and fussiness. So even if the illness is mild, it still means five to 10 days of being uncomfortable.
Are Children Required to Get a Chickenpox Vaccination?
Most states require that children entering child care and school show evidence of immunity to chickenpox or evidence of having been given the chickenpox vaccine.
Who Should Get Vaccinated With the Chickenpox Vaccine?
The chickenpox vaccine is recommended for all children under the age of 13 who have not had chickenpox. It is also recommended for all adolescents and adults who have not been vaccinated and have not had chickenpox.
If you have had chickenpox there is no need for you to get the vaccine.
Since 2005, the vaccine has also been available as part of a combination vaccine called MMRV, which offers protection against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella
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