Unvaccinated Children Spreading Chickenpox
Children whose parents refuse to vaccinate them are nine times more likely to get chickenpox compared to fully immunized children, according to a new study led by a vaccine research team at Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute for Health Research. The study was published today in the January issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics&Adolescent Medicine. To assess the risk of varicella vaccine refusal, researchers reviewed the electronic health records of 86,993 children between the ages of 12 months and 8 years who were members of Kaiser Permanente Colorado between 1998 and 2008. First, investigators confirmed which childrenhad varicella infections. Next, they verified whether parents had refused some or all varicella vaccines for their children. read more