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Add chicken pox vaccine to list of kids' immunizations
By Michelle Alaimo
Parents can add another item to their kindergarden or preschool checklist--the varicella vaccine for chickenpox. Beginning July 1, 2001, all children entering any California kindergarden, preschool, daycare or nursery will be required by law to obtain a chickenpox vaccine.
The new shot requirement was approved late last year with the passage of SB 741. Until now, the varicella shot was optional for children age 1 and over, who have not already had the disease. Kaiser Permanente pediatrician Jesse Tannenbaum says that without the vaccine, those children who contract chickenpox could face complications that may become life threatening.
"Chickenpox is not a harmless disease," Tannenbaum says.
He adds that chickenpox is easily spread by air or by contact with the fluid of a chickenpox blister. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the common childhood disease causes itching, fever and tiredness and can lead to severe skin infection, scars, pneumonia, brain damage or death.
The CDC says most people who get the vaccine will never get chickenpox. As with any vaccine, there can be side effects, says Laura Levins, public health nurse for the county Communicable Diseases Department.
About 5 percent of the children immunized could get a weakened version of chickenpox, some time in their life, resulting in less than 50 spots, Tannenbaum says. He adds that the majority of patients only experience mild tenderness at the injection site and possibly a mild rash but never contract chickenpox. Those who contract the full-blown disease must wait until the chickenpox spots have crusted before returning to school.
The mandate makes the chickenpox vaccine one of 10 shots required of students before enrolling in any California school, child-care center, day nursery, nursery school, family day care home or development center. Many school districts across the county reported that a large number of students have already received the chickenpox vaccine.
"If you don't get the chickenpox shot at the same time as another live virus vaccine, your body is so busy making antibodies to the first live shot that the second one is not as effective," Tannenbaum said.
State law provides exemptions to those with personal beliefs or a medical exemption that prohibits the student from having the shot. The waiver is available from any school district.
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Campbell, California
