Many people think chickenpox isn’t that serious, but the disease can actually be life-threatening. Chickenpox caused more than 10,000 hospitalizations and up to 150 deaths every year before the vaccine was developed.
Thankfully, we now have the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine to protect little ones from the virus.
Your child will need to get the varicella vaccine starting at 12 to 15 months old. Learn more about the shot and why it's so important.
What is the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine?
The chickenpox vaccine is made with live (but weakened) varicella-zoster virus and prevents chickenpox in about 98% of people who get both doses.[1]
A small percentage of people who get the chickenpox vaccine may get the virus even though they were vaccinated. Such so-called "breakthrough" infections are usually milder than normal chickenpox, with fewer lesions and low or no fever.
What does the chickenpox vaccine protect your child from?
Chickenpox, which is caused by the varicella virus, used to be one of the most common childhood diseases. In the early 1990s, before the vaccine became available, there were about 4 million cases of the highly contagious virus, about 10,500 to 13,000 hospitalizations, and around 100 to 150 deaths every year.
Research shows that the chickenpox vaccine led to the prevention of more than 91 million cases, and since the start of the vaccination program, chickenpox has declined by more than 97%.[2]
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"[My child] already had both doses of the vaccine. I had awful chickenpox as a child, and I'm covered in scars from it," says What to Expect Community parent Tori8. "I definitely wouldn't want that for my child."
Chickenpox symptoms include an itchy, blister-like rash that eventually turns into scabs all over the body, fever, drowsiness, loss of appetite, and headache.
It is easily spread through touching or breathing in the virus particles that come from chickenpox blisters, and possibly through tiny droplets from infected people that get into the air after they breathe, cough, sneeze, or talk.[3]
"People with chickenpox develop an extremely uncomfortable, itchy rash all over, [as well as] fever, body aches, and loss of appetite, and can be left with scars from it," says Lauren Crosby, M.D., a pediatrician in Beverly Hills, California, and member of the What to Expect Medical Review Board. "Children miss at least a week of school, and their parents miss work caring for them."
Though usually mild, chickenpox occasionally causes more serious problems, she adds. Those can include dehydration, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), pneumonia, bacterial infections of the skin, bloodstream infections (sepsis), and, in rare instances, death.
Newborns, adolescents, adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems are much more likely to develop serious complications.
Varicella can also cause shingles in adults, which can be quite serious and very painful. But children who receive the chickenpox vaccine are at a 78% lower risk of developing shingles later in life compared to unvaccinated children, research suggests.[4]
"We got [the vaccine] at 12 months," says What to Expect Community user OffBrandUnicorn. "It wasn’t available when I was a child, and while my chickenpox wasn't life-threatening or anything, I would definitely spare my children a few days of misery."
The chickenpox vaccine is given to children starting at 12 to 15 months old. Kids receive a second dose when they're between 4 and 6 years of age.
Many people think this disease isn't that big of a deal, but chickenpox can be dangerous and even life-threatning for some kids, which is why it's so important to vaccinate your little ones.
The vaccine is made with live (but weakened) varicella-zoster virus and prevents chickenpox in about 98% of people who get both doses. Most people who get the vaccine are protected against chickenpox for life.
Before we had a chickenpox vaccine, millions of people caught the highly contagious virus every year, and there were around 10,500 to 13,000 hospitalizations. Though most children had mild cases, the virus caused up to 150 deaths each year too.
How many chickenpox shots will my child need?
Two doses of the vaccine are recommended, the first at 12 to 15 months and a second dose between 4 and 6 years of age. Most of the time, kids who get the varicella vaccine are protected against chickenpox for life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"This very safe vaccine has been extremely successful at decreasing the number of hospitalizations and deaths from chickenpox," says Dr. Crosby. "It also provides lifelong protection and has the added benefit of a lower risk of developing shingles in the future."
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