Varicella vaccine: progress 4 years after licensure.

The concerns raised by parents and physicians about varicella immunization are reasonable and need to be acknowledged. We believe, however, that the available information strongly suggests that these concerns should not impede implementation of universal immunization against varicella. In fact, some of these concerns are best resolved by universal immunization. Some people argue that only a small percentage of people with varicella will have a significant complication and therefore vaccinating all is unnecessary. Yet, a small percentage of 3.5 to 4 million cases per year is not an insignificant number. There is a precedent for changing immunization practice because of relatively small risks when the risks in question are serious. For example, immunization practice has changed because we have decided that 8 to 10 cases per year of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (of 770 million doses) is unacceptable. Vaccination has been the most important health care advance of the past 40 years. Now that varicella can be added to the list of vaccine-preventable diseases, we can help our patients avoid both the common and the uncommon but much more severe complications of this disease, as well as the considerable economic burden. Although the chances that any individual will have a complication are small, if your patient is the statistic, the odds are meaningless. How can we continue to accept even mild disease from varicella, let alone severe complications, when the disease is now preventable by an effective, safe vaccine? Not immunizing patients puts them at medical risk and us at legal risk.