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Suggest Dosage Of Varicella Vaccine
Question: My 12 yrs old child was recently diagnosed to have chicken pox. She had the chicken pox vaccination when she was a baby. I read that a person should have a booster jab for it to be effective. Is this true? Should I have my older child take the booster jab now that his younger sister has it? When would we know whether he is infected? He also had the chicken pox vaccination when he was a baby
Brief Answer:
You will have to be patient and observant.
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
I have gone through the query. Let me mention that a single dose of chicken pox provides 90% protection while getting two doses ensures 100% protection for life. Although a single dose provides a reasonable amount of immunity, it does not reduce the chances of getting the disease to zero. Here the role of the booster comes in but definitely it cannot be labelled as 'essential'. In any case, after the probable exposure has occurred, it is no use taking the vaccination. So, vaccinating your older child when the younger has already got it, would not be helpful. Since he has already got a dose earlier, there is a reasonable probability that he would not get the disease.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Dr. Diptanshu Das
You will have to be patient and observant.
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
I have gone through the query. Let me mention that a single dose of chicken pox provides 90% protection while getting two doses ensures 100% protection for life. Although a single dose provides a reasonable amount of immunity, it does not reduce the chances of getting the disease to zero. Here the role of the booster comes in but definitely it cannot be labelled as 'essential'. In any case, after the probable exposure has occurred, it is no use taking the vaccination. So, vaccinating your older child when the younger has already got it, would not be helpful. Since he has already got a dose earlier, there is a reasonable probability that he would not get the disease.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Dr. Diptanshu Das
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Neel Kudchadkar
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