Chickenpox deaths decrease

ATLANTA – Chickenpox vaccine has dramatically cut deaths from the disease, especially in children, says a new government study proclaiming an important public health victory.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that chickenpox deaths fell from an average of 105 per year to 14 after the vaccine had been available for a dozen years.

Deaths declined in all age groups, but the drop was most significant among children.

“To see the near elimination of chickenpox deaths in this country is very exciting,” said Jane Seward, a CDC official who co-authored the paper. She has been involved in the agency’s chickenpox vaccine program for 15 years.

The report was released online today by the journal Pediatrics.

Chickenpox is caused by a virus and is highly contagious. Symptoms include an itchy skin rash and fever. Most kids suffer no more than that, but some suffer complications like skin infections, swelling of the brain and pneumonia. Severe cases are more common among adolescents and adults who get it for the first time. Also, the virus – called varicella – can reactivate in people later in life and cause a painful illness called shingles.

While rarely fatal, chickenpox was very common before the vaccine – nearly one in 10 pre-adolescent children would get it in a year, said Dr. Eugene Shapiro, a Yale University expert in infectious disease.

In 1995, the government first recommended that all children get a dose of chickenpox vaccine. One dose turned out to be about 86 percent effective. A second dose is now recommended.

The vaccine deserves credit for the decline in children’s deaths, Seward said. It’s also likely cut adult deaths because there are fewer infected children around to spread it to adults, she added.