Can VARIVAX ® III be given once a child has been exposed to chickenpox?
According to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), "Varicella vaccine has been shown to be effectivein preventing or reducing the severity of varicella - zolster if givento a susceptible individual within 3 days, and possibly up to 5 days, after exposure to varicella. Such use has not been associatedwith increased rates of adverse events.".
Chickenpox and shingles are caused by the varicella-zoster virus. Chickenpox is the initial infection with varicella-zoster virus, and shingles is a reemergence of the virus, usually years later. During the chickenpox infection, the virus spreads in the bloodstream and infects many nerve cells (ganglia) of the spinal or cranial nerves, remaining there in a dormant (latent) state. The virus may never cause symptoms again, or it may reactivate many years later. When it reactivates, the virus travels back down the nerve fibers to the skin, where it creates painful sores resembling those of chickenpox. This outbreak of sores (shingles) is almost always limited to a strip of the skin on one side of the body that contains a group of infected nerve fibers. This area is called a dermatome. Unlike HSV infections, there is usually only one outbreak of shingles in a person's lifetime.
Abstract: Facts About Shingles (Varicella-Zoster Virus).
- What is shingles?.
- Who is at risk for developing shingles?.
- What are the symptoms of shingles?.
- Are other complications associated with shingles?.
- Is any research being done to prevent shingles?.
- More NIH shingles Information. June 2003. Shingles is caused by the
|
