Preventing Chickenpox

The federal government says all children entering day care or elementary school should be vaccinated for chickenpox.

The requirements are recommended because the highly contagious disease is most prevalent among children ages 1 to 6, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Some 4 million Americans, mostly children, get chickenpox every year. Caused by the varicella virus, it typically just causes severe itching and rash in children.

The CDC estimates that about 100 people from 1990 to 1994, before the vaccination became available, died from complications such as pneumonia, hemorrhaging, and blood infections. As many as 11,000 are hospitalized annually.

"There is data out there to suggest that deaths are continuing to occur," said Dr. Jane Seward of the CDC's National Immunization Program. "It's not a lot compared to other vaccine-preventable diseases but it's too many when you've got a way to prevent them."

The vaccine is 80 to 90 percent effective, and protects against the most severe symptoms of chickenpox in all cases, according to the CDC.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the nation's first chickenpox vaccine, Varivax, in 1995 and the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics had recommended vaccinating children for chickenpox at 12 to 18 months.

Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington D.C. have already passed laws requiring vaccinations for children.