Panel urges delay in chickenpox shots

Flu shots now recommended for toddlers

February 21, 2002 Posted: 11:40 AM EST (1640 GMT)

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Doctors should delay vaccinating toddlers for the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles because of a shortage of the vaccine in the United States, a government advisory panel is recommending.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said doctors should wait to give children the varicella vaccine until they are between 18 months and 2 years old. The group's standard has been for children to be immunized between 12 and 18 months.

The ACIP said the shortage would likely last until late spring or early summer.

It recommended that health providers use a call-back system to alert people when the vaccine is available.

The varicella virus was widespread before the vaccine was introduced in 1995, causing 4 million infections, 11,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths each year, the ACIP said.

Children need only one dose of the varicella vaccine to be protected, but people who are not vaccinated before they are 13 years old should be given two doses, four to eight weeks apart.

Merck, the only maker of the chickenpox vaccine, has blamed the shortages in part on modifications to its production line -- one suggested by the FDA and another that took longer than expected.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR), which Merck also makes, is in short supply as well. Federal health officials have dipped into an emergency stockpile of that vaccine.

In addition to the chickenpox and MMR vaccines, other vaccines in short supply include Prevnar, which protects against potentially deadly pneumococcal bacteria; and DTaP, for diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough.

In a separate decision, the ACIP panel said Tuesday that young babies and toddlers should now get flu vaccinations each year.

The panel is "encouraging" that children ages six months to 23 months get the influenza vaccination for the 2002-2003 flu season, because "children in this age group are at substantially increased risk for influenza-related hospitalizations," a statement said.

Previously, it was recommended that the elderly and people with compromised immune systems receive the shot.

The panel's recommendations for the upcoming flu season include prioritizing vaccination efforts in October so that the first shots go to people at high risk for complications from influenza and to health care workers.

The efforts also will target children under the age of 9 with high-risk conditions, because that age group needs to have a booster shot one month after the initial vaccination.

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