BACKGROUND In 2002-2003, as part of a pilot project, varicella vaccination was offered to susceptible students in grades 4 and 5 in schools whose health services are provided by a local community services centre in Montréal. This immunization campaign was merged with the hepatitis B immunization programme. OBJECTIVES To calculate the proportion of grade 4 and 5 students susceptible to varicel...

to an affected household member. In healthy children, varicella usually does not cause serious complications. However, immunocompromised children and otherwise healthy adults are at increased risk for life-threatening complications of varicella such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and disseminated infection. Although <10% of all cases of varicella occur in adults, this age group accounts for 25-30%...

Background: The authors sought to monitor the impact of widespread varicella vaccination on the epidemiology of varicella and herpes zoster. While varicella incidence would be expected to decrease, mathematical models predict an initial increase in herpes zoster incidence if re-exposure to varicella protects against reactivation of the varicella zoster virus. Methods: In 1998–2003, as varicella...

Varicella usually is a self-limited disease but sometimes can result in severe complications and death. Although infants, adults, and immunocompromised persons are at increased risk for severe disease, before varicella vaccine was introduced in 1995, the majority of hospitalizations and deaths from varicella occurred among healthy persons aged <20 years. Introduction of varicella vaccine has su...

Although varicella vaccine is given to clinically stable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children, its effectiveness is unknown. We assessed its effectiveness by reviewing the medical records of closely monitored HIV-infected children, including those receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) between 1989 and 2007. Varicella immunization and development of varicella or ...

A multivariate time-series regression model was developed in order to describe the 2005-2008 age-specific time-course of varicella sentinel surveillance data following the introduction of a varicella childhood vaccination programme in Germany. This ecological approach allows the assessment of vaccine effectiveness under field conditions by relating vaccine coverage in cohorts of 24-month-old ch...

Recombinant Oka (ROka) varicella vaccine expressing hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and subunit HBsAg vaccine (SHV) were used as primary and booster HBsAg vaccines in 3 combinations (SHV-SHV, SHV-ROka, and ROka-SHV) in guinea pigs. Immune responses to HBsAg and varicella-zoster virus gE:gI were evaluated. The 3 combinations induced similar levels of the lymphocyte proliferation response to ...

Before availability of varicella vaccine in the United States, an estimated 4 million varicella cases, 11,000-13,500 varicella-related hospitalizations, and 100-150 varicella-related deaths occurred annually. The varicella vaccination program was implemented in the United States in 1996 as a 1-dose routine childhood program. Based on data from two varicella active surveillance sites, the varice...

Thirty nine children with malignant disease and without antibodies to varicella zoster virus were immunised with a live Oka strain varicella vaccine. Seroconversion was shown in 24 of those who were vaccinated but five of 18 who responded to the vaccine who were followed up for over six months subsequently lost their antibodies. Of 10 children who were revaccinated, nine responded to the second...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effects of a behavioral intervention, Tai Chi, on resting and vaccine-stimulated levels of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) to varicella zoster virus (VZV) and on health functioning in older adults. DESIGN A prospective, randomized, controlled trial with allocation to two arms (Tai Chi and health education) for 25 weeks. After 16 weeks of intervention, subjects were vac...