Doctors sound chickenpox alarm

By Jacqueline Maley
January 5, 2005

Chickenpox will hit more adults unless low rates of immunisation are improved, doctors say."We're sounding a warning," said Peter McIntyre, the director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases."The risk is that if you have middling levels of vaccinated kids, it could result in a higher percentage of older people still being susceptible to chickenpox."Chickenpox in adults is more severe and more likely to cause serious complications like brain swelling and kidney and liver damage.There are no complete statistics on how many children now receive the vaccine but Professor McIntyre's recent research, published in the January issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, shows there has been a significant increase in immunised three and four-year-olds since the chickenpox vaccine was licensed in 2000.Adult chickenpox could remain a problem until Australia reaches a vaccination rate of 80 per cent.