Chicken pox shots pay off in fewer hospital stays: study

Governments that pay for children to be immunized against chicken pox may be saving themselves millions in the long run, a new study suggests.

Researchers in the U.S. found a dramatic drop in the number of people who needed to be hospitalized for chicken pox since a national vaccination program began in 1995.

Chicken pox usually causes only minor scars, but for a small number of children, it can cause serious complications including flesh-eating disease. Health experts therefore recommend toddlers receive the chickenpox vaccine.

Now an independent study done by doctors at the University of Michigan has found the shots save money. Their study appears in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The investigators found the U.S. rate of hospitalization for chicken pox dropped 74 per cent in the first six years after the vaccine went on the market.

"The hospitalizations were reduced so much and the hospitalization charges were reduced so much, that the vaccine may be even more cost-effective than was originally predicted," said pediatrician Dr. Matthew Davis, the study's lead author.

The decrease in hospitalizations translated into an annual savings of $130 million Cdn in hospital costs alone. The sum is enough to cover most of the costs of the vaccination program, the researchers said.

By vaccinating more young children against chicken pox, there is less disease in the community. The increase in childhood immunity means teens and adults, who often come down with more severe cases of chicken pox, are also less likely to become sick, Davis said.

In Canada, the annual cost of hospitalizing patients for chicken pox is an estimated $11 million.

Only Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia, Quebec and the Yukon still require parents to pay for the vaccine out of pocket.

Pediatrician Dr. Barbara Law of Winnipeg Children's Hospital hopes the results convinces the provincial holdouts to fund the shots, since the vaccine not only prevents significant disease in children, but it also saves money.

In the U.S., more than 76 per cent of toddlers are vaccinated against chicken pox. In Canada, the most recent figures show 20 per cent of toddlers get the vaccine.

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