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Chickenpox: Can we avoid it? Are you ready for the chickenpox outbreak this year? Even though a vaccine is recommended and available, chickenpox is still a common occurrence in early childhood settings with it usually peaking in the spring. What should you do in your program? Facts and figures Chickenpox or varicella can be dangerous and even deadly. According to the National Immunization Program before the introduction of the varicella vaccine in 1995, approximately 4 million cases of the disease were reported annually, including 4,000 to 9,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths. While chickenpox/varicella is the greatest vaccine-preventable killer of children in the United States, only 67 percent of children ages 19-35 months old had received the varicella vaccine by 2000. Ninety percent of all chickenpox/varicella cases and approximately 60 percent of hospitalizations and 40 percent of deaths due to chickenpox occur in children younger than age 10. Today, the greatest incidence of chickenpox has shifted to younger children from ages 1 to 4. What is chickenpox/varicella? It is an infectious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus which results in a blister-like rash, itching, tiredness and fever. The rash first appears on the trunk and face, but can spread over the entire body causing between 250 to 500 itchy blisters. It is uncommon to get chickenpox more than once and for most people, one infection will bring lifelong immunity. How does it spread? It is highly infectious and spreads from person to person by direct contact or through the air from an infected person's coughing or sneezing. A person with chickenpox is contagious 1-2 days before the rash appears and until all blisters have formed scabs. It takes from 10-21 days after contact with an infected person for someone to develop chickenpox. What is the chickenpox/varicella illness like? In children, chickenpox most commonly causes an illness that lasts about 5-10 days. Children usually miss 5 or 6 days of childcare or school due to chickenpox. About half of all children with chickenpox visit a health care provider due to symptoms of their illness such as high fever, severe itching, an uncomfortable rash, dehydration or headache. In addition, about 1 child in 10 has a complication from chickenpox serious enough to visit a health care provider including infected skin lesions, other infections, dehydration from vomiting or diarrhea, increased asthma symptoms or more serious complications such as pneumonia. Certain groups of persons are more likely to have more serious illness with complications. These include infants, adults, adolescents and people with weak immune systems from either illnesses or from medications. More information about serious infections following chickenpox can be found at Complications from Group A Streptococcus: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/groupastreptococcal_g.htm How do I prevent it from spreading? · The best way to prevent spread is to keep infected people away from the program. · Develop a system for immediate notification of parents/guardians. A good resource that includes sample letters for parent notification is Healthy Young Children: A Manual for Programs published by NAEYC. · Exclude the infected person from the program until the rash is completely dry and crusted. · Watch closely for early symptoms in others for 3 weeks following the most recent case. · Practice good personal hygiene, being especially diligent with handwashing. · Contact your child care health consultant to discuss what to do. How do you treat it? There is no specific treatment for chickenpox but symptoms may be treated with anti-itching medicine and lotions, medicine for fever control (not aspirin or products containing salicylate), fluids, and rest. Scratching should be avoided to prevent scarring. Do you have to report it? Chickenpox/Varicella became a reportable disease in Wyoming on February 1, 2001. Report cases of chickenpox to your local public health office. Refer to the Wyoming Child Care Licensing Rules for further information in regard to rules about reportable diseases. How can you prevent it? It can be prevented by the varicella vaccination. Studies have shown that the varicella vaccine is 85 percent effective in preventing disease and if a vaccinated person gets varicella, it is usually a very mild disease. According to the United States Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule the recommended strategy is to vaccinate children routinely at age 12 to 18 months and to provide "catch-up" vaccinations for older children, adolescents, and adults who have not been vaccinated. Studies show that immunity persists for more than 20 years after vaccination. If a female staff member has not had a vaccination or did not have chickenpox in childhood, it is recommended that she discuss this risk with her health care provider. Exposure tochickenpox can cause significant health problems for fetuses. Why vaccinate? Why not allow children to develop immunity by acquiring the natural infection of chickenpox? The problem is that it is never possible to predict who will have a mild case of chickenpox and who will have a serious or even deadly case of the disease. Now that there is a safe and effective vaccine available, it is not worth taking this chance. Chickenpox is extremely contagious and group settings are especially at risk due to the close contacts occurring there. Children can expose other children/adults who may be more susceptible to serious illness or other children who may be too young to be fully immunized. Chickenpox/Varicella Summary
Further information? An excellent source to receiver further information on this topic is your local Public Health Office or the Center for Disease Control on the web at http://www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/varicella/ Contact Healthy Child Care Wyoming for additional resources. Karen Williams, Project Director, at 307-766-5537, or Joan Bangen, Consultant, at 307-577-1394 University of Wyoming Department of Family and Consumer Sciences P.O. Box 3354 Laramie, WY 82071-3354 Web Site: http://www.uwyo.edu/family/Healthy_Child_Care_Main.htm ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
