Varilrix And Varivax Refrigerated
Varilrix and Varivax Refrigerated are registered for use as 2 doses of 0.5 mL in adolescents 13 years of age and adults.
ATAGI
- children < 14 years of age receive at least 1 dose of varicella vaccine
- adolescents 14 years of age receive 2 doses of varicella vaccine
Varilrix
The product information for Varilrix states that adults and adolescents who receive 2 doses of varicella vaccine should receive the 2nd dose at least 6 weeks after the 1st dose.
ATAGI recommends that the 2nd dose may be given at least 4 weeks after the 1st dose.
Varivax Refrigerated
The product information for Varivax Refrigerated recommends that women of child-bearing age should avoid pregnancy for 3 months after vaccination.
ATAGI recommends that these women should avoid pregnancy for 28 days after vaccination,15 as for other monovalent varicella vaccines and MMRV vaccines.
The product information for Varivax Refrigerated recommends delaying vaccination for 5 months after an individual receives normal human immunoglobulin by intramuscular injection or blood transfusion.
ATAGI recommends that people should not receive a varicella-containing vaccine for at least 3 months after receiving immunoglobulin-containing blood products, according to the intervals outlined in Table. Recommended intervals between immunoglobulins or blood products, and measles-mumps-rubella, measles-mumps-rubella-varicella or varicella vaccination.
Schedule : Pharmacist Only Medicine
Schedule 3 drugs and poisons, otherwise known as Pharmacist Only Medicines, are substances and preparations for therapeutic use that
- are substantially safe in use but require professional advice or counselling by a pharmacist
- require pharmacist advice, management, or monitoring
- are for ailments or symptoms that
- can be identified by the consumer and verified by a pharmacist
- do not require medical diagnosis, or only require initial medical diagnosis, and do not require close medical management.
Some states have subsets of Schedule 3 with additional requirements . Only some Schedule 3 medicines may be advertised to the public.
Examples:
Im Pregnant And Have Had A Blood Test For Chickenpox What Do The Results Of This Test Show
The blood test can show that you:
- Are immune and have no sign of recent infection. You have nothing further to be concerned about.
- Are not immune and have not yet been infected. You should avoid anyone with chickenpox during your pregnancy.
- Have or recently had an infection. You should discuss what the risks are for your stage of pregnancy with your healthcare provider.
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Are You A Healthcare Worker
Healthcare workers come into contact with people with poor immune systems, pregnant women and newborn babies. They should be aware that if they catch chickenpox, they can be infectious for two days before a rash or illness appears, and be a risk to patients. So, if you are a healthcare worker and come into contact with someone who has chickenpox , then:
- If you have been immunised against chickenpox, or have definitely had chickenpox in the past, you are likely to be immune. You should continue working but contact your occupational health department if you feel unwell or develop a rash.
- If you are uncertain about whether you have had chickenpox or been immunised, you should have a test to see if you are immune. If you are not immune you should:
- Avoid contact with high-risk patients for 8-21 days after contact with chickenpox.
- Report to occupational health before patient contact if you feel unwell or develop a high temperature or rash.
- Get immunised against the varicella-zoster virus .
Whether you have been exposed to chickenpox or not, if you are a healthcare worker and you have never had chickenpox you should have a test to see if you are immune. If you are not immune you may need to be immunised.
What Are The Possible Side Effects Of Chickenpox Immunisation
All medicines and vaccines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time theyre not.
For most people, the chance of having a serious side effect from a vaccine is much lower than the chance of serious harm if you caught the disease.
Talk to your doctor about possible side effects of chickenpox vaccines, or if you or your child have possible side effects that concern you.
Common side effects of chickenpox vaccines include:
- pain, redness or swelling where the needle went in
- rash
- fever.
The Consumer Medicine Information links in How do you get immunised against chickenpox? list the side effects of each vaccine.
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Why Did I Get Chickenpox Even Though I’ve Been Vaccinated
Previous vaccination with a varicella vaccine does not always guarantee that a person will not develop chickenpox symptoms. However, if they do, these symptoms are usually much milder than in an unvaccinated person.
The effectiveness of vaccination depends upon how many doses of the vaccine have been given, and how strong the person’s immune system is. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , one dose of varicella vaccine is 82% effective at preventing any form of chickenpox, and 100% effective at preventing the severe form of the disease. Two doses of varicella vaccine increase the effectiveness against any form of varicella to 98%. Effectiveness rates may be lower in people with other health conditions such as HIV or who are immunocompromised .
Chickenpox that occurs in a person who has been previously been vaccinated against the disease is called breakthrough varicella, and it is usually mild. People with breakthrough varicella typically dont have a fever, or only have a low-grade fever, and develop fewer than 50 skin lesions. The rash tends to be milder and lacks the vesicles typically seen in unvaccinated people who develop the disease. People with breakthrough varicella also tend to recover quicker than unvaccinated people.
Vaccination is generally long-lasting although experts aren’t sure exactly how long it lasts for. Some studies have shown antibodies against varicella are still present 10 to 20 years after vaccination.
How Serious Is It
Chickenpox is uncomfortable, but usually mild and children will recover quickly. Most children will need around a week off school or early childhood education to recover and to avoid spreading disease. Your pharmacist, doctor or nurse can give advice about treating the itchy rash.
Chickenpox can lead to skin infections, and rarely, more serious complications like eye damage, inflammation of the brain, pneumonia, kidney problems and sometimes death.
Chickenpox during pregnancy can harm the baby and cause stillbirth.
The virus that causes chickenpox stays in your body even after you recover and can cause shingles many decades later.
Every year in New Zealand about 60,000 people catch chickenpox. Several hundred people need hospital treatment, and one or two people either die or suffer from long-term disability as a result of chickenpox.
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Standard For The Uniform Scheduling Of Medicines And Poisons
The Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons is an Australian produced by the . Before 2010, it was known as the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons . The SUSMP classifies and into different Schedules signifying the degree of control recommended to be exercised over their availability to the public. As of 2021, the most recent version is the Poisons Standard February 2021.
The Schedules are referred to under legislation for regulatory purposes. Although each State and Territory has its own laws, the vast majority of medicines and poisons are classified according to the SUSMP to achieve uniform national regulation.
Are There Different Types Of Chickenpox Vaccines
In the United States, there are two varicella vaccines authorized for use:
- Varivax®: contains only varicella vaccine. It can be used in children ages 12 months and up, as well as in older children and adults.
- ProQuad®: contains a combination of measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccines. This is sometimes called MMRV. This is usually only used in children ages 4 through 6.
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Why Is The Chickenpox Vaccination Not Part Of The Routine Childhood Immunisation Schedule
There’s a worry that introducing chickenpox vaccination for all children could increase the risk of chickenpox and shingles in adults.
While chickenpox during childhood is unpleasant, the vast majority of children recover quickly and easily.
In adults, chickenpox is more severe and the risk of complications increases with age.
If a childhood chickenpox vaccination programme was introduced, people would not catch chickenpox as children because the infection would no longer circulate in areas where the majority of children had been vaccinated.
This would leave unvaccinated children susceptible to contracting chickenpox as adults, when they’re more likely to develop a more severe infection or a secondary complication, or in pregnancy, when there’s a risk of the infection harming the baby.
We could also see a significant increase in cases of shingles in adults.
When people get chickenpox, the virus remains in the body. This can then reactivate at a later date and cause shingles.
Being exposed to chickenpox as an adult boosts your immunity to shingles.
If you vaccinate children against chickenpox, you lose this natural boosting, so immunity in adults will drop and more shingles cases will occur.
Getting Vaccinated After You Are Exposed To Chickenpox
If you do not have immunity against chickenpox and are exposed to someone with this disease or shingles, talk with your doctor about getting chickenpox vaccine.
You should get chickenpox vaccine within 3 to 5 days of being exposed. Even if more than 5 days have passed since you were exposed, vaccination with two doses is still recommended to protect against future exposures. You need 2 doses of vaccine separated by minimum of 28 days.
For more information, see Who Needs Chickenpox Vaccine.
If you previously got 1 dose of chickenpox vaccine, you should get a second dose.
Getting vaccinated after you are exposed to someone with chickenpox can:
- prevent the disease or make it less serious
- protect you from chickenpox if you are exposed again in the future
A doctor can prescribe a medicine to make chickenpox less severe if you:
- are exposed to chickenpox,
Students in school settings have a higher chance of spreading chickenpox because they are constantly in close contact with each other.
Chickenpox vaccine prevents the disease and outbreaks in childcare settings and schools. This leads to:
- less illness and less school time missed by students, and
- less chance of exposing people who cannot get vaccinated.
For more information, see State Vaccination Requirements.
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Interactions Between Varivax And Other Medications
Varivax may interact with certain medications or supplements. Always let your doctor and pharmacist know about any other medications or supplements that you are currently taking. The list below does not include all possible drug interactions with Varivax . Please note that only the generic name of each medication is listed below.
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are receiving this vaccine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.
Receiving this vaccine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to use this vaccine or change some of the other medicines you take.
- Alemtuzumab
Why Is The Chickenpox Vaccine Important
Chickenpox is very contagious it spreads easily from person to person. And while its usually mild, it can cause serious complications like pneumonia . Certain people like infants, people with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women are at increased risk for complications.
The chickenpox virus can also cause shingles later in life. Shingles is a disease that causes a painful skin rash and can affect the nervous system. Children who get the chickenpox vaccine may have a lower risk of developing shingles later on and those who do get shingles often have a milder case than someone who has had chickenpox.
Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent chickenpox. And when enough people get vaccinated against chickenpox, the entire community is less likely to get it. So when you and your family get vaccinated, you help keep yourselves and your community healthy.
Chickenpox is caused by a virus. Symptoms of chickenpox include:
- A red, itchy skin rash with blisters
- Fever
- Not feeling hungry
- Headache
Chickenpox usually spreads when a person touches chickenpox or shingles blisters or if they breathe in the virus. You can breathe in the virus after someone with chickenpox or shingles scratches their blisters, which releases the virus into the air.
Its also possible to get chickenpox from breathing in tiny droplets from people who have it that get into the air after they breathe or talk. Learn more about chickenpox.
Children
Adults
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Who Should Get Vaccinated With The Chickenpox Vaccine
The chickenpox vaccine is recommended for all children under age 13 who have not had chickenpox. It is also recommended for all adolescents and adults who have not been vaccinated and have not had chickenpox.
If you have had chickenpox, there is no need for you to get the vaccine.
Since 2005, the vaccine has also been available as part of a combination vaccine called MMRV, which offers protection against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella.
Schedule : Dangerous Drug
Substances with a high potential for causing harm at low exposure and which:
- Require special precautions for manufacture, handling or use or
- Only available to specialised and authorised users with appropriate skills
- Special regulations regarding their availability, possession, storage or use may apply
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Causes And Risk Factors
The chickenpox virus can travel in many ways. It can spread through respiratory droplets, when a person sneezes, for example, or through to contact with blisters. This is why the virus is so contagious.
Any adult who is not immune and who comes in contact with an infected person is at risk.
Even when a person no longer has chickenpox symptoms, the virus remains in their system. It can reactivate later and cause shingles.
Shingles is a painful condition that can cause itchy, burning lesions. A person who has never had chickenpox can get shingles by coming into contact with shingles lesions.
After a person has been exposed to the chickenpox virus, it takes several days for symptoms to develop. Below, we describe how the virus gets into the body and causes symptoms:
Initial exposure
Chickenpox can travel via respiratory droplets or through direct contact with an infected persons saliva, tears, or fluid from a chickenpox blister.
A person with the infection can spread the virus as early as 2 days before they develop chickenpox lesions.
Incubation period
After the virus has been in the body for about 46 days, it begins to replicate in the lymph nodes.
The average incubation period before a person develops symptoms is 1416 days.
Primary illness
A person typically starts to develop symptoms of a viral illness about 1416 days after their initial exposure to the chickenpox virus.
These symptoms tend to include fatigue, a runny nose, and a cough.
Secondary infection
How Do You Get Chicken Pox
Chicken pox is extremely contagious. It spreads very quickly from person to person. The most common way the infection is spread is through the air if someone with chicken pox coughs or sneezes. You can also get chicken pox if you touch a blister or the liquid from a blister.
A pregnant woman with chicken pox can pass it on to her unborn baby before birth. Mothers with chicken pox can also give it to their newborn baby after birth.
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Persons New To Canada
Health care providers who see persons newly arrived in Canada should review the immunization status and update immunization for these individuals as necessary. People from tropical regions are more likely to be susceptible to varicella and should be a priority for varicella immunization. Refer to Immunization of Persons New to Canada in Part 3 for additional information about varicella vaccination of people who are new to Canada.
Concerns About Side Effects
If a side effect following immunisation is unexpected, persistent or severe, or if you are worried about yourself or your child’s condition after immunisation, see your doctor or immunisation nurse as soon as possible or go directly to a hospital. It is important to seek medical advice if you are unwell, as this may be due to other illness, rather than because of the immunisation. Immunisation side effects may be reported to the Victorian vaccine safety service, the central reporting service in Victoria on 1300 882 924, select option one. You can discuss with your immunisation provider how to report adverse events in other states or territories.
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Fever And Febrile Convulsions
After varicella vaccination:
- 15% of healthy children develop a fever > 39°C, which is comparable to that seen in children receiving placebo39
- 10% of adults and adolescents develop a fever43
Inform vaccine recipients, or their parents or carers, about:
- possible symptoms occurring 512 days after vaccination
- how to manage the symptoms, including using paracetamol for fever
In clinical trials, people who received MMRV vaccine had higher rates of fever than people who received MMR vaccine and monovalent varicella vaccine at the same time but at separate sites.44-47 Rates of fever were highest in people who received MMRV vaccine as their 1st dose.
Post-marketing studies in the United States identified an approximately 2-fold increased risk of fever and convulsions 710 days48 49 after vaccination in children who received MMRV vaccine as a 1st dose. MMRV recipients were compared with recipients of separate MMR vaccination resulted in 1 additional seizure for every 2300 doses compared with separate MMR and varicella vaccination.48 Children in the studies were mostly 1223 months of age.
In the United States, post-marketing studies did not find an increase in fever or convulsions after children received the 2nd dose of ProQuad vaccine. However, most 2nd dose recipients were aged 46 years, an age at which the incidence of convulsions is low.50 This side effect profile is expected to be similar in children who receive Priorix-tetra.