Chickenpox Vaccination of Children Helps Protect Infants, Too
Chickenpox Vaccination of Children Helps Protect Infants, Too
Routine Vaccination of Children Aged 1 and Older Has Indirect Benefits for Infants
This concept is known as herd immunity, where enough people in a community get vaccinated to reduce the spread of a disease like chickenpox or measles.
At first there was some pushback by parents about the chickenpox vaccine, she says. "It had been difficult to get off the ground because the prevailing point of view was that chickenpox was a benign, inconvenient rite of passage of childhood."
But, "among infants, chickenpox can be a really serious disease," Demmler-Harrison says. "The vaccine was finally embraced and we are seeing real benefits." Pregnant women, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems are also at risk for severe complications from chickenpox.
Jeffrey Brosco, MD, PhD, sums up the new findings this way: "Vaccinating 1-year-olds protects the next baby." He is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Chickenpox Vaccination of Children Helps Protect Infants, Too
Routine Vaccination of Children Aged 1 and Older Has Indirect Benefits for Infants
Protecting Infants From Chickenpox continued...
This concept is known as herd immunity, where enough people in a community get vaccinated to reduce the spread of a disease like chickenpox or measles.
At first there was some pushback by parents about the chickenpox vaccine, she says. "It had been difficult to get off the ground because the prevailing point of view was that chickenpox was a benign, inconvenient rite of passage of childhood."
But, "among infants, chickenpox can be a really serious disease," Demmler-Harrison says. "The vaccine was finally embraced and we are seeing real benefits." Pregnant women, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems are also at risk for severe complications from chickenpox.
Jeffrey Brosco, MD, PhD, sums up the new findings this way: "Vaccinating 1-year-olds protects the next baby." He is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.