Washington (H24N). A new federal study shows the 5-year-old vaccine to fight chickenpox infections has been a tremendous success at preventing the disease.

Researchers with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) say only about three out of 100,000 children or adults given the varicella vaccine suffered any adverse reaction, and those reactions were relatively mild. Rare cases of severe shock were reported among people given the vaccine, but no deaths have been linked with its use. In the meantime, officials say they estimate there has been an 80 percent drop in all cases of chickenpox since the vaccine. Among children between the ages of 1 and 4, officials report a 90 percent decline.

Chickenpox, or varicella, is caused by virus known as varicella zoster, a form of herpes. Highly contagious, the disease is characterized by an itchy rash that first turns into blisters and then dry scabs within five days. Usually thought of as a childhood malady, the disease also can afflict adults, often with more severity and the possibility of complications or even death. Before the vaccine went into widespread use, officials say there were as many as 9,000 hospitalizations each year due to chickenpox, and about 100 deaths each year in the United States alone.

The vaccine – marketed under the name Varivax by Merck & Co. – is a weakened, live form of the virus. Typically children get one dose, and adults get two. Officials say they launched the study in order to analyze data that weren’t available before the vaccine went into widespread use.

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