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MARIAH ANNIKA CABASAN NAT SCI 1 (3:00-4:30PM) TTH

BSBA-HRDM4

Chickenpox and Varicella


Vaccine
In the past, chickenpox was a common childhood illness in the United States, particularly for
children under the age of 10. The development of a vaccine in the 1970s has led to a decline in
cases. While most symptoms of this contagious disease can be managed at home without a stay
at a health care facility, chickenpox can strike adults, in which case the symptoms can be more
severe. In addition, approximately 10% of children who contract chickenpox may develop
complications that require attention from a physician.

What is chickenpox?

Chickenpox is a viral infection caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV). While the origin of the
term chickenpox is unknown, some believe that it was derived from chickpeas due to the
blisters’ resemblance to chickpeas. Others think the term is based on child pox or itching pox.
Most typically, the illness appears in children, and a rash appears anywhere between 10 – 21
days after becoming infected with the virus. On average, a child may develop from 250 – 500
blisters, which are itchy and filled with fluid. The blisters first appear on the face, scalp or torso.
After several days, the first blisters will form scabs; however, more blisters may develop later.
Often, they affect the inside of the mouth and the eyelids. The rash usually heals completely
without scarring. Chickenpox has also been observed in other primates like chimpanzees and
gorillas.

Where does chickenpox come from?

While the recurrent infection with the varicella zoster virus, herpes zoster or shingles, has been
recognized since ancient time, physicians had not differentiated chickenpox varicella from
smallpox until the late 19th century. However, the first description of chickenpox was provided
by Giovanni Filippo in the 16th century. William Heberden demonstrated in 1767 that smallpox
was different from chickenpox. In 1875, Rudolf Steiner showed that chickenpox was caused by
an infectious agent, while Von Bokay made the first clinical observations differentiating herpes
zoster from varicella zoster in 1909. Thomas Weller isolated the varicella virus in 1954, and
Michiaki Takahashi developed the first live, attenuated vaccine for varicella in 1972.
How is chickenpox transmitted?

The chickenpox virus spreads easily through the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs.
In addition, the disease can be spread through breathing in or touching the virus particles shed
by the body. It can also be transmitted by indirect contact with items that had been in direct
contact with active blisters. Chickenpox may also be transmitted by people with an active
outbreak of shingles caused by the herpes zoster virus, and the varicella zoster virus may cause
shingles.

What are chickenpox symptoms?

The typical symptoms of chickenpox include a rash with itchy, fluid filled lesions that scab over
when healing. The rash may first develop over the face, back and chest and subsequently over
the entire body, and then progresses to blisters, small bumps and pustules. Later the pustules
or lesions may develop on the eyelids, mouth and genital areas. Scabs will form over the lesions
after approximately one week. Other classic symptoms that frequently appear about one to
two days before a rash include fatigue, high fever, headache, loss of appetite, nausea, and
muscle aches. The average length of the incubation period is about 14 – 16 days from first
exposure, although the incubation can range from 10 – 21 days. Certain patients with
compromised immune systems may experience longer incubation periods. The period of
communicability begins from one to two days prior to the onset of the rash and lasts up to 6
days after that.

What is the Chickenpox Vaccine?

The chickenpox vaccine, also known as the varicella vaccine (Varivax, Merck), is a live,
attenuated vaccine made from the Oka strain of the varicella zoster virus. The vaccine is derived
from the isolated virus from the vesicular fluid from a healthy child, and is attenuated by
passage 30 – 33 times in human diploid cells and guinea pig fibroblasts. While the weakened
virus in the vaccine will not cause the disease itself, it will prompt the body’s immune system to
create the antibody to the varicella zoster virus, which gives the person immunity from
chickenpox. The CDC advises individuals to receive two doses of varicella vaccine for all ages.
Two doses prove to be approximately 98 percent effective in preventing the infection. Vaccine
has been administered to over 15,000 people in Japan and the U.S., including healthy children,
healthy adults, children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and other
immunocompromised patients.

What are the Chickenpox Vaccine Side Effects?

While getting the chickenpox vaccine is generally very safe, some people experience side
effects. Most people experience no side effects, and serious side effects are very rare.
Generally, side effects will occur after the first vaccination rather than after the second dose.
Possible reactions include fever, redness/soreness or swelling at the injection site, and several
small bumps or a mild rash after vaccination. Serious side effects, such as low blood counts and
severe brain reactions, from the varicella vaccine are very rare.

Who should not get the Chickenpox Vaccine?

While it is very save, some people should not get the chickenpox vaccine: people with a severe
allergic reaction to a previous dose of chickenpox vaccine or any element of the vaccine (such
as gelatin or Neomycin), people with a moderate or severe illness at the time of injection,
pregnant women, people with HIV/AIDS or other autoimmune diseases, people under drug
treatment that weakens the immune system (such as steroids) or people with cancer.
Dr. Takahashi was born on Feb. 17, 1928, in Osaka. He received his medical degree from Osaka
University in 1954. Before his work on the chickenpox vaccine, he collaborated on mumps and
rubella vaccines. He later served on the board of directors of the Research Foundation for
Microbial Diseases of Osaka University.

Dr. Michiaki Takahashi, whose experience caring for his 3-year-old son after the boy contracted
chickenpox led him to develop a vaccine for the virus that is now used all over the world, He
died in Osaka, Japan at the age of 85

In 1964 Dr. Takahashi, who had spent several years studying the measles and polio viruses in Japan, was
on a research fellowship at Baylor Medical College in Houston when his son, Teruyuki, came down with a
severe case of chickenpox after playing with a friend who had the virus.
Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, a form of herpes. If a person contracts the
virus, has an active infection and then recovers, the virus is not actually gone from the body. It
can hide in nerve cells for years or decades, then emerge again to cause shingles, a painful
condition that causes a skin rash and occurs mostly in adults.

Dr. Takahashi developed his vaccine by growing live but weakened versions of the virus in
animal and human cells. The vaccine did not cause the disease, but it prompted immune
systems to produce antibodies.

“It fools the immune system into thinking it has seen this disease before,” said Dr. Anne A.
Gershon, the director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Columbia University
Medical Center and a friend of Dr. Takahashi’s.

Dr. Gershon said Dr. Takahashi’s is “the only vaccine successful against any of the human
herpes viruses.”

In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began recommending a second dose of
the vaccine. The C.D.C. recommends that children receive their first dose when they are 12 to
15 months old and a second dose when they are 4 to 6 years old.

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