CHICKENPOX VACCINE AVAILABLE FREE TO CHILDREN

The chickenpox vaccine is now available for free for children ages 1-18 at the Cape County Public Health Center.

Until recently, the health center was charging $60 per injection for the chickenpox or, as it is officially known, the varicella virus vaccine, which the center was having to purchase on its own, said Jane Wernsman, assistant director of the Cape County Public Health Center. When the Missouri Department of Health began providing the vaccine to health centers around the state for use in children, it allowed the health center to offer the vaccine for free to ages 1-18, Wernsman said.

Those over the age 18 must still pay the $60 per injection for the vaccine, she said. And two doses of the vaccine must be given to those 13 and older to be effective, Wernsman said. Only one dose is needed for those 12 and younger.

"It's a great vaccine," said Nancy Mosley, a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Cape County Public Health Center. "I highly recommend it."

Chickenpox is caused by varicella-zoster virus and symptoms usually are mild, but it may be severe in infants, adults and those with impaired immune systems, according to the Centers for Disease Control. According to the CDC, chickenpox is highly contagious, with approximately 4 million cases occurring in the United States each year.

Chickenpox, characterized by an itchy rash that then forms blisters and is often accompanied by fever, usually isn't serious itself, Mosley said. But secondary infections and other complications from chickenpox can be serious, she said.

Every year there are approximately 5,000 to 9,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths from chickenpox in the United States, according to the CDC.

Then there are the logistic aspects of chickenpox for working parents. "Consider that chickenpox routinely lasts 10 days to two weeks. That's a long time to take off work to care for a child," Wernsman said.

The vaccine, which is recommended for all children by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians, was licensed in 1995 in the United States.

There are few reactions to the vaccine and most of those that do occur are mild such as pain and redness at the injection site, fever and a mild rash, according to the CDC. There have been a few allergic reactions to the vaccine, but the CDC notes that the magnitude of serious adverse events is substantially lower following the vaccine than following the natural disease.

Wernsman said no serious side effects have been reported to the Cape County Public Health Center since it began offering the vaccine.

Wernsman said since the Missouri Health Department made the chickenpox vaccine available for free, the Cape County Public Health Center has been making parents aware of its availability when they call about other free immunizations the center offers.

She said it is convenient to give infants the vaccine when they are brought in for the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shot usually scheduled to be at 12 months of age.

"Anything we can do to prevent a child from being sick, I think we should do," Mosley said.