UK Tests New Version of Chicken Pox Vaccine in Children

Chickenpox vaccine or varicella vaccine is included as a part of the National Immunization Program for children in many countries around the world. But UK has not made the varicella vaccine compulsory for children in fear that it could cause chicken pox and shingles infection in older people. Chicken pox is caused by the Varicella-Zoster virus which mainly affects children. It is highly contagious with symptoms including blister-like rash, itching, tiredness, and fever.

Now, the NIHR Wellcome Trust Southampton Clinical Research Facility and St George's Hospital in south London have planned to conduct a study with a new vaccine which prevents children from developing chickenpox.

The new version of the vaccine, Varilrix will be tested among children aged between 12 and 23 months. The vaccine was first licensed in the UK in 2013 and was estimated to offer 98 percent protection against chicken pox in children and 75 percent in adolescents and adults.

Katrina Cathie, a consultant pediatrician and principal investigator for the study at Southampton Children's Hospital said, "We already know from previous studies that they are equally effective, but this study is looking at the temperature of the children after the vaccine to see if there is any increase in the rate of fever. Through this study, we will find out if a new version of the vaccine is better than the current version."

Source-Medindia