Varicella

Technical term for chickenpox.

A herpes virus that causes chickenpox and shingles; herpes zoster.

Causes

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. You catch it by coming into contact with someone who is infected. Chickenpox is a very contagious infection. Around 90% of people who have not previously had chickenpox will become infected when they come into contact with the virus.

Sign and symptoms

The first symptoms of chickenpox include:

A fever of 100.4 °F (38 °C) to 103 °F (39.4 °C).

Feeling sick, tired, and sluggish.

Little or no appetite.

Headache and sore throat.

Side effect

Serious side effects are very rare. From 1998 to 2013, only one vaccine-related death was reported: an English child with pre-existent leukemia. In some occasions, severe reactions have been reported such as meningitis and pneumonia as well as anaphylaxis.

The possible mild side effects include redness, stiffness, and soreness at the injection site, as well as fever. A few people may develop a mild rash which usually appears around the shot's area.

However, this risk is less than the risk due to a natural infection resulting in chickenpox: 378 most of the cases reported have been mild and have not been associated with serious complications

Vaccinations

The Varicella Zoster vaccine is made from the Oka/Merck strain of live attenuated varicella virus. The virus was initially obtained from a child with natural varicella, introduced into human embryonic lung cell cultures, adapted to and propagated in embryonic guinea pig cell cultures, and finally propagated in human diploid cell cultures.