In December 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved VariZIG, a varicella zoster immune globulin preparation (Cangene Corporation, Winnipeg, Canada) for use in the United States for postexposure prophylaxis of varicella for persons at high risk for severe disease who lack evidence of immunity to varicella* and for whom varicella vaccine is contraindicated. Previously available unde...

Healthcare workers are recommended to get vaccinated against measles and varicella. This study aims describe the implementation process of a varicella vaccination program report on reduction in number susceptible healthcare exposed measles, varicella, disseminated herpes zoster at tertiary hospital. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) model was used implemented from Oc...

At the time of the varicella outbreak among immigrant workers at a poultry processing factory and at their apartment complex, reported in this issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases [1], live attenuated var-icella vaccine had been licensed for routine use in the United States for 5 years [2]. Nevertheless, these highly varicella-susceptible young adults, most of whom had been born in Mexico or C...

BACKGROUND The authors sought to monitor the impact of widespread varicella vaccination on the epidemiology of varicella and herpes zoster. While varicella incidence would be expected to decrease, mathematical models predict an initial increase in herpes zoster incidence if re-exposure to varicella protects against reactivation of the varicella zoster virus. METHODS In 1998-2003, as varicella...

OBJECTIVE To quantify both the individual-level and attributable risk of varicella infection requiring medical care in children whose parents refuse varicella immunizations. DESIGN Matched case-control study with conditional logistic regression analysis. SETTING Kaiser Permanente of Colorado (KPCO) health plan between 1998 and 2008. PARTICIPANTS Each pediatric physician-diagnosed case of ...

Case-based varicella (chickenpox) surveillance is important for monitoring the impact of the varicella vaccination program. In 2002, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) recommended that all states move toward case-based varicella surveillance by 2005; in 2003, varicella was made nationally notifiable. To ease the transition to case-based reporting, CSTE and CDC recommend...

OBJECTIVE One-dose varicella vaccination for children was introduced in the United States in 1995. In 2006, a second dose was recommended to further decrease varicella disease and outbreaks. We describe the impact of the 2-dose vaccination program on varicella incidence, severity, and outbreaks in 2 varicella active surveillance areas. METHODS We examined varicella incidence rates and disease...

OBJECTIVE Varicella breakthrough, the occurrence of varicella disease >42 days after vaccination, is indicative of vaccination failure. A sevenfold increased risk of breakthrough among vaccinated children with asthma was observed in a 1996 varicella outbreak in a child care center. More recent outbreak investigations have also identified age at vaccination as a potential risk factor for breakth...

BACKGROUND When varicella vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1995, there were concerns that childhood vaccination might increase the number of adolescents susceptible to varicella and shift disease toward older age groups where it can be more severe. METHODS We conducted a series of 5 cross-sectional studies in 1994 to 1995 (prevaccine), 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009 in Kaiser Permanen...

to an affected household member. In healthy children, varicella usually does not cause serious complications. However, immunocompromised children and otherwise healthy adults are at increased risk for life-threatening complications of varicella such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and disseminated infection. Although <10% of all cases of varicella occur in adults, this age group accounts for 25-30%...