What are the benefits of vaccinating my child against chickenpox?
Although chickenpox is usually mild, routinely vaccinating all children at age 1 can prevent medical problems and reduce the costs related to the disease. Parents may have to miss work while their children are home from school or childcare. In the average household, a child with chickenpox misses 8 or 9 days of school, and adult caretakers lose up to days of work. The chickenpox vaccine is 70%-90% effective in preventing chickenpox. If vaccinated children do get chickenpox, they generally get a milder form of the disease. They have fewer skin lesions (15 to 32) a lower fever, and recover more quickly. In fact, the disease may be so mild that the skin lesions look like insect bites. Even so, vaccinated children with a mild case of chickenpox can still infect other at risk of getting chickenpox. Currently a booster for the chickenpox vaccine is not recommended. Studies are underway, though, to determine how long protection from the vaccine lasts and whether a person will need a booster i
