Chicken pox (varicella) is a communicable disease where the patients presents with itchy red spots and or blisters that form over the body. This disease is common in children, but not uncommon for adults to contact the disease. The populations with compromised immune systems, like pregnant women, infants and adolescents and adults, have a hard time fighting the infection. Due to the extreme contagious nature of the disease patient may need to limit contact with the community. Children may need to stay home from school and adults from work, until the sores have crusted over. After the disease has run its course, the virus lays dominant in the nervous system, and reappear as another viral infection called shingles. Shingles, is a red rash that turns into painful blisters, forming along a nerve path, usually on one side. It …show more content…
In the early 1990s, an average of 4 million people got varicella, 10,500 to 13,000 were hospitalized (range, 8,000 to 18,000), and 100 to 150 died each year. In the 1990s, the highest rate of varicella was reported in preschool-aged children. Chickenpox vaccine became available in the United States in 1995. In 2010, 90% of children 19 to 35 months old in the United States had received one dose of varicella vaccine, varying from 72% to 97% by state and city. Among adolescents 13 to 17 years of age without a prior history of disease, 90% had received 1 dose of varicella vaccine, and 58% had received 2 doses of the vaccine. Each year, more than 3.5 million cases of varicella, 9,000 hospitalizations, and 100 deaths are prevented by varicella vaccination in the United States. Varicella deaths declined by 98.5% in children and adolescents less than 20 years of age during 2008 to 2009 compared with 1990 to 1994. Deaths declined by 96% in adults less than 50 years of age and by 49% in adults 50 years of age or older. ("CDC-Monitoring Varicella Vaccine Impact - Chickenpox," 2012, para.