Guest guest Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Chicken Pox Outbreak Bested Vaccine But health officials defend shot's effectiveness By Adam Marcus HealthScoutNews Reporter Works good huh! WEDNESDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthScoutNews) -- They may be lifesavers, but vaccines are no match for the certainty of death and taxes. Health officials say a New Hampshire boy immunized against chicken pox passed the infection on to 17 of his day-care classmates who also had received the shot. No one died or required hospitalization in the 2000-2001 outbreak, which sickened a total of 25 children, though eight had moderate to severe symptoms. Studies have pegged the chicken pox vaccine's efficacy rate at between 71 percent and 100 percent, and it performs even better at preventing serious bouts of the disease. Yet in the day-care outbreak, it worked only 44 percent of the time. Those children vaccinated three or more years before the exposure were 2.6 times more likely than those who received the shot more recently to become infected with chicken pox. This suggests the inoculation's protection might fade with time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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