The vaccination program has resulted in a significant reduction in the incidence of chicken pox

Vaccination against chicken pox has reduced the incidence of chicken pox by 99 percent among people under the age of 20, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDWeek), held Oct. 19-23 in Washington. , DC

Mona Marin, MD, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed overall and age-related trends in chickenpox incidence, hospitalizations, and deaths from the prevaccination period (1990-1994) to 2019. The trends were designed to persons under the age of 50, which covers most of the burden of chicken pox and avoids misclassification of herpes zoster in elderly people.

The researchers observed a sharp decrease in the incidence of chickenpox, hospitalizations and mortality rates within 10 years of the single-dose program compared with the previous vaccine (71 to 90 percent). Limited transmission continued in school settings, reporting a switch to a two-dose vaccination policy. Reductions reached >97, 94, and 97 percent for morbidity, hospitalization, and death, respectively, by 2019. The decline was greatest among people under 20 years of age born during the vaccination program, who had 99, 97, and > 99 percent reductions in morbidity, hospitalization, and death, respectively. Further reductions in the number, size, and duration of flares were observed with the two-dose program compared with the one-dose program. The share of flashes with

“This degree of disease control in the United States was unimaginable just 25 years ago, but imagine it on a global scale,” Marin said in a statement. “As science continues to advance, the varicella vaccine is a testament to the transformative power of public health.”