Pediatrics experts highlight the importance of vaccination against varicella from 12 months.

-The infant immunization schedule recently approved by the Ministry of health, social services and equality recommends vaccination beginning at age 10, when more than 95% of children age has already passed the disease

-in Spain more than 120,000 cases of chickenpox there each year. Navarra and Madrid, communities with program of child vaccination against chickenpox, are the regions that have a lower incidence of the disease

-pediatric experts recommend comply with the full vaccine guideline of two doses, irrespective of the age of vaccination

Granada, April of 2013.- scientific evidence demonstrates the importance of vaccination against varicella 12 months and manage the complete pattern composed of two doses of vaccine: one at 12-15 months and another at 2 or 3 years of age. This is one of the main demands of Pediatrics experts gathered at the V Conference of update in Pediatrics that have been held in Granada. The meeting has been organized by the Campus Pediatric Clinic, a spin-off of the University of Granada, in collaboration with the society of Pediatrics of Eastern Andalusia and the University.

Explains the Cosano doctor Carlos Ruiz, director of the meeting and associate professor of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Granada, sessions are aimed at update knowledge of pediatricians on vaccine and its effectiveness, a field that is in constant renewal. Additionally, issues will be addressed as nutrition, vascular malformations, bed wetting and molecular diagnosis in pediatric allergy ”. To do so, around 200 pediatricians of primary and hospital care, residents and University, has brought together at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Granada.

Among the contents of the course, this expert stresses the importance of vaccination against varicella. Vaccination is one of the most effective health measures and greater impact has had in reducing disease, therefore, is important to know and share with the rest of experts the latest environment to vaccines as the varicella ”, adds this pediatrician.

On the latter point, during his speech, doctor Francisco Álvarez, pediatrician and Secretary of the Committee Adviser of vaccines of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), recalled that the main benefit of the varicella vaccine is that he is gets to stop the circulation of the virus in the populationallowing you to protect from disease to those who are not vaccinated. Therefore, it is a priority to begin the vaccination in the early stages, when children are small, since it is where you can give problems. The ideal would be that this vaccine was included in the systematic child calendar ”.

For the ASP, the current policy of the Ministry aimed to vaccinate children in adolescence, not solves the problem since in those ages only 4% of the population has not had contact with the virus. In addition, this measure does not solve the complications that can occur after suffering from chickenpox, still considered a benign disease, complications can occur in 20% of cases. Respiratory complications, the most common, or other more serious occasions such as encafalitis, requiring hospital admission.

Benefits of complying with the vaccine guideline

AEP expert has pointed out the importance of compliance with vaccination guideline, i.e. the administering two doses to ensure the objective of any vaccine: eradicate the disease and really protect the population. The first dose should be administered at 12-15 months and the second booster dose at 2 or 3 years of age. Until the year 2006, in Spain are vaccinated with a single dose. After scientific publications which concluded a better immune memory with a second dose, it is recommended to administer two doses because it has been shown that in this way it reduces the risk of emergence of the call break-through varicella ”. Break-through varicella is what appears in children immunized due to a bug in the live vaccine or the protection of the same, he added.

Efficacy of the vaccine against chickenpox

Until it began to vaccinate against varicella, in Spain there were around 1,300 hospital admissions a year. Since vaccinations began, communities such as Navarra and Madrid, have managed to reduce by four years the rate of hospitalizations 73% and 50% respectively. This means an increase of population prevention and savings for the national health system to be considerably decreased spending for hospitalizations.

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