CHICKEN POX
Who usually gets chicken pox?children who have never had chicken pox children who haven’t been vaccinated against it It is more common among school-age children or those who attend daycare as they come into contact with more children. When another member of the family has chickenpox, children have nearly a 90% chance of catching it too. As people who have had chickenpox age, their body's ability to suppress the virus is compromised, making them more susceptible to shingles. Once they have had shingles, they seldom have a recurrence, suggesting that the episode boosts immunity which then keeps the virus in check. Merck's commitment to basic and applied research in infectious diseases was evident in the discoveries that flowed from the lab under Dr. Hilleman's stewardship. "In 1957 we perceived that live attenuated vaccines might be developed to help protect against measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox in children," he says. "But these were only dreams at the time." |
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