U.S.

U.S. Study: Chicken Pox Vaccine Is Safe

By Rome Neal

September 13, 2000 / 9:50 AM EDT / CBS

Chicken pox is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that's usually contracted during childhood. It causes a rash with small blisters all over the body. Children usually have an itch and get spots. For adults the symptoms can be much more severe.

But a study out Wednesday in the Journal Of The American Medical Association finds that the vaccine for chicken pox used for kids is also perfectly safe for adults, reports CBS News Health Correspondent Dr. Emily Senay

Another new study by doctors at Columbia-Presbyterian in New York showed the vaccine to be effective in providing long-term immunity for adults. If you're over 13 years of age and you aren't already immune to chicken pox, health researchers suggest that you might want to seriously think about getting the vaccine. It could protect you from a miserable couple of weeks or even much worse.

But most people get immunity by getting the disease as a child. If you havn't had it before, you body builds up antibodies to fight it off again.

Dr. Senay said if you don't remember if you had it or not, "Your doctor can do a blood test to check if you are immune." One can also pass on taking the test and simply get the vaccine.

But the adults certainly have a harder time.

"Adults die every year from the chicken pox. Blisters are bigger and can become infected more easily and lead to more severe scarring when they heal. There are still 4 million cases of chicken pox every year and 10,000 people go to the hospital, " said Dr. Senay.

If you get the immunization it's recommended to not take aspirin products for six weeks after it. Women should avoid becoming pregnant for three months after the vaccine.

The study looked at records of adverse effects from the vaccine as reported to the government from March 17, 1995, through July 25, 1998. About 9.7 million doses of the vaccine had been sold through July, 1998, Merck & Co. gained a license to sell it in March, 1995.