- The ARC - California Edition -

Immunization Update
California Schools Now Require Vaccination for Chickenpox

As residents of the state of California, we are all subjected to the provisions of the legal mandates documented within the Health and Safety Codes. There are some specific requirements within that section of the state code, which are important prime movers when it comes to the prevention of brain injury from infectious diseases. 

Section 120325 of the H & S Codes provides a means for the eventual achievement of total immunization of appropriate age groups against ten different diseases. Well, it soon will be ten different diseases, but right now it is nine diseases. Beginning on July 1, 2001, a change to this code will become effective. 

With this change, Varicella (chickenpox) will be added to the list of diseases for which immunity must be obtained prior to entry into certain school-type settings. These settings include private or public elementary or secondary school, childcare center, day nursery, nursery school, family day care home, or development center.

In other words, the governing authority of these programs (if operated within the state of California) will not be allowed to admit any pupil unless that person has been fully immunized in accordance with the recommendations of the United States Public Health Services’ Centers for Disease Control Immunization Practices Advisory Committee.

Most of these provisions have been in place for many years for other childhood diseases. The goal of this legal mandate is to eliminate, or greatly reduce, the quantity of cases of Diphtheria, Hepatitus B, Hemophilus Influenze B, Measles, Mumps, Pertussis, Poliomyelitis, Rubella, and Tetanus. The mandate to require vaccination for these diseases has been working extremely well as a prevention measure. 

The vaccine for chickenpox has been under development for almost 50 years. Clinical trials for this varicella vaccine, begun during 1980, were then followed by numerous pre-licensure studies. Only since 1995 has the varicella vaccine been approved for general public use. During the years before the vaccine was licensed, virtually all of the 4 million children annually born in this country contracted chickenpox. Of these cases, about 0.5% resulted in hospitalization – that amounts to 20,000 kids. Only forty or fifty of them died, but each year some of the survivors ended up being brain damaged.

This requirement for pre-school varicella vaccination is new to California. Many other states have yet to implement this national recommendation. For additional information, check the following references: