Prevention of Chickenpox

Prevention of chickenpox can be achieved by using the chickenpox vaccine. The chickenpox vaccine is the only routine vaccine that does not require a booster. 

Once you have been immunized, you are safe from chickenpox for life. It is therefore a very important part of the routine immunization schedule.  The chickenpox vaccine is virtually 100% effective against moderate or severe cases of the disease, and about 85-90% effective against mild forms of the disease.

If not for the chickenpox vaccine, this disease would be very difficult to avoid. This is because the chickenpox virus is airborne. Not only that. Chickenpox can very contagious before the rash even appears. This is what makes chickenpox a very common childhood disease. One can therefore understand why the vaccine is the best prevention of chickenpox.

It is possible to catch chickenpox from someone in the next carriage of a train (if people are walking between the carriages) or in the next aisle of a supermarket, even when these people don’t even know they have chickenpox.

A higher dose of the chickenpox vaccine given later in life may reduce the incidence of herpes zoster (shingles).  Re-immunization with the higher dose is currently being considered by many vaccination experts.

Vaccination straight after being exposed to the disease may still reduce the severity of the disease.