GC: n
S: CDC – https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/varicella.html (last access: 27 December 2019); WebMD – https://www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/chickenpox-varicella-vaccine#1 (last access: 27 December 2019).
N: 1. – varicella (n): “chicken-pox,” medical Latin, 1764, irregular diminutive of variola (see variola). Related: Varicellous.
– vaccine (n): “matter used in vaccination,” 1846, from French vaccin, noun use of adjective, from Latin vaccina, fem. of vaccinus “pertaining to a cow” (see vaccination). Related: Vaccinal; vaccinic.
2. Michiaki Takahashi, Japanese physician (born Feb. 17, 1928, Osaka, Japan—died Dec. 16, 2013, Osaka), developed a vaccine for chickenpox, a contagious viral disease, after putting to use the knowledge that he had gained while collaborating on vaccines for such viral diseases as mumps and rubella. He was inspired to create a vaccine for chickenpox after having watched helplessly as his young son suffered a serious bout of that disease. Takahashi cultured weakened versions of the chickenpox virus in animal and human tissue, and the vaccine that he developed prompted the immune systems of those inoculated to produce antibodies. Though Japan and other countries began administering Takahashi’s vaccine in the mid-1970s, the U.S. did not approve its first chickenpox vaccine until 1995. Takahashi earned an M.D. (1954) from Osaka University and later served on the board of directors of that university’s Foundation for Microbial Diseases.
3. Specifically, studies have shown that one dose of varicella vaccine can lead to breakthrough varicella, albeit rarely, in children and a 2-dose regimen is now recommended. The varicella vaccine is used routinely in children with two doses.
4. The first dose is given to children between 12 to 15 months of age, and administration of the second dose is for children between 4 to 6 years old. If three months have passed since the first dose, one may opt to give the second dose earlier. If a child has never been vaccinated or had chickenpox, the practitioner should give the two doses at least 28 days apart. One may give the varicella vaccine at the same time as other vaccines; however, evidence demonstrates that there is an increase in the breakthrough disease when the varicella vaccine adminsitration is within four weeks of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. The recommendation is to give the vaccines simultaneously in different injection sites or to give them four weeks apart. There also exists a quadrivalent combination vaccine called MMRV, which consists of MMR and varicella and may be provided in place of the two individual doses if the child is younger than 12 years old. The FDA has not approved the use of this vaccine in pregnancy and requires intense immune status evaluation in individuals with a family history of congenital immunodeficiencies.
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=varicella&searchmode=none; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=vaccine&searchmode=none (last access: 27 December 2019). 2. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michiaki-Takahashi (last access: 27 December 2019). 3 & 4. NCBI – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441946/ (last access: 27 December 2019).
SYN: chickenpox vaccine
S: WebMD – https://www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/chickenpox-varicella-vaccine#1 (last access: 27 December 2019); CDC – https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/varicella/public/index.html (last access: 27 December 2019).
CR: herpes zoster, vaccine, varicella.
