CDC: Chickenpox vaccine has almost wiped out severe illness from the virus
Chickenpox vaccines have virtually wiped our severe complications and deaths from the varicella-zoster virus, a CDC report finds.
Chickenpox vaccines have virtually wiped out severe complications and deaths in American children from the highly contagious virus, a new report finds.
Chickenpox —which is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, a type of herpes virus — was considered just a normal part of growing up until the vaccine became available in 1995. Since then new U.S. cases of the disease among those under age 20 have been cut by 97 percent, hospitalizations by 94 percent and deaths by 99 percent as of 2019, according to an analysis of national databases released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The chickenpox vaccine implementation is “a tremendous achievement,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Mona Marin, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease. An estimated 90.3% of children have been vaccinated against chickenpox by age 2, according to the CDC.
“The high vaccination coverage the country has achieved has led to a huge decline in cases, from 4 million per year” to around 150,000, Marin said. The chickenpox vaccination program has also saved the U.S. about $1 billion per year in medical costs and lost work due to parents having to stay home with sick children, according to CDC estimates.
Deaths in kids, which had been as high as 150 per year, have been “practically eliminated,” Marin said. Between 2012 and 2016, there were no deaths in those younger than 20, according to Marin.
Rating: 5