The US was the first country to implement a single-dose chickenpox vaccination program for all children in 1995, and the effort appears to be paying off. According to results of a study published by the CDC in the journal Pediatrics, the vaccination program has resulted in a 90% decrease in the number of cases of chickenpox. However, experts currently recommend a 2-dose vaccination (introduced in 2006) to further decrease the spread of the very contagious disease that once killed children by the hundreds annually. The vaccination is a weakened form of the chickenpox virus that induces the body to produce antibodies against the real virus, thus conferring immunity. Full story.
Tags: chickenpox, herpes zoster, shingles, vaccination, vaccine
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Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.