Vaccine Choice Canada Chicken Pox - Disease & Vaccine Information

Chicken Pox

Chicken pox presents as a low fever and loss of appetite followed by a classic rash which lasts about a week. The AMA Encyclopedia of Medicine once described chicken pox as “a common, mild infectious disease to which all healthy children should be exposed at an age when it is no more than an inconvenience.” Before the vaccine was added to the schedule in 1995, chicken pox was considered a childhood rite of passage.

The Vaccine

The chicken pox vaccine is a live-virus vaccine grown in cell cultures from aborted fetuses, bovine fetal and calf serum, and guinea pig cell cultures.
The Merck vaccine dates from the 1960’s. It was rarely used, given chicken pox is a mild disease.
In 1995, the CDC added the chicken pox vaccine to the recommended childhood schedule – one dose at 12 – 15 months, and a booster at 4 – 6 years.
The argument made for including the vaccine in the childhood schedule was based on the inconvenience of caring for a sick child rather than health concerns of contracting chicken pox.
Thomas Cowan argues that supporting a child through an illness is an important parent-child experience that strengthens both for other life battles. [11]
While the vaccine may have contributed to removing chicken pox as a childhood illness, it has resulted in a dramatic increase in shingles in adulthood.
The vaccine is usually given in combination with measles, mumps and rubella (MMR-V). These are all live-viruses. The risks associated with combination vaccines have not been established.
The vaccine does not confer life-long immunity. This results in a higher risk of complications should one contract chicken pox in adolescence or adulthood.

Considerations for the Vaccine Decision

Recovery from chickenpox confers long lasting natural immunity. Re-exposure to the chickenpox virus boosts a person’s immune system and decreases their risk of shingles as adults.[12]
Contracting chicken pox can have a protective effect against heart disease and cancer.[13]
Many European countries do not recommend the routine use of the chickenpox vaccine because of concerns that its use increases the rate of shingles among adults.[14]
As of May 31, 2023, there have been more than 102,605 reports of vaccine reactions, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following chickenpox vaccinations made to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System; this includes 237 related deaths. Over 69% of varicella vaccine-related adverse events occurred in children six years and younger.
A US HHS study acknowledged that less than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported.[15]
The safety of the chicken pox vaccine has not been proven against a true placebo.

For more information: https://www.nvic.org/disease-vaccine/chickenpox

References

[11] Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness. Thomas Cowan, MD, 2018. P. 77

[12] Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies. Neil Z. Miller, 2016. pp. 149-164.

[13] Graciela Gutierrezz, “History of Chicken Pox May Reduce Risk of Brain Cancer Later in Life,” Baylor College of Medicine, 2016.

[14] NHS Why aren’t children in the UK vaccinated against chickenpox? Sep. 20, 2016

[15] Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System – https://digital.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/docs/publication/r18hs017045-lazarus-final-report-2011.pdf

Vaccine Product Monographs

Product: Varilrix (GSK)

Product Monograph: https://ca.gsk.com/media/6263/varilrix.pdf (21 pages)

Patient Information sheet:

Manufacturer website: https://ca.gsk.com/en-ca/products