Chickenpox Immunizations

Programs that provide inoculations which prevent adolescents and adults who have never had the illness and/or who were not vaccinated as children from contracting chickenpox (varicella), an acute viral disease with mild constitutional symptoms (headache, fever, malaise) followed by a series of outbreaks of macules, papules, blisters and crusting. Vaccination is recommended for persons of any age without a reliable history of varicella disease or vaccination, susceptible adolescents and adults living in a household with children, susceptible health care workers, individuals at high risk for exposure (e.g., teachers, day care employees, staff in institutional settings), nonpregnant women of childbearing age and international travelers.