Washington To Require Chickenpox Immunization For Schoolchildren

(AP )- Washington will become one of the last states in the country to require vaccination of schoolchildren for chickenpox, the state Health Board has decided. The panel voted unanimously this week to require that children 19 months to 12 years old submit proof of immunization against chickenpox before being allowed to attend day care or public school. The requirement takes effect next July 1 and does not apply to children who have had chickenpox because they already are immune, officials said. As with other stte-mandated immunizations, parents may decide not to have their children vaccinated based on philosophical, medical or religious objections. Every state except Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Arizona has a similar requirement, and provisions to impose the restriction are pending in Arizona. An advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in 1999 that all states require chickenpox vaccination for schoolchildren, but Washington officials held back in the hopes that parents would do so voluntarily, said Craig McLaughlin. The state now has one of the nation’s lowest vaccination rates for chickenpox, 73 percent of children 19 to 35 months, compared with a national average of 86 percent. The number of children nationwide who contract the disease has dropped from 4 million a year to 800,000, members of the board were told. Most children develop mild symptoms, including an itchy rash and fever, but the highly contagious virus can lead to serious complications in a small proportion of cases and was cited in 16 deaths and 1,045 hospitalizations in 2003.