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Inoculation against chicken pox must

DUBAI - A vaccine to prevent chicken pox among children has been introduced in the UAE’s national immunisation programme, the health ministry announced on Tuesday.

Inclusion of the vaccine in the programme means that hundreds of thousands of children in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates will receive protection from a disease that can become deadly if not treated on time, said officials at a worker’s training programme.

The Dubai and Abu Dhabi health authorities have already included the vaccine in their immunisation programmes.

“On recommendations of the World Health Organisation, the ministry has decided to administer the vaccine to children starting at 12 months,” said Dr Mahmoud Fikri, Assistant Undersecretary, Health Policy Affairs at the ministry. The programme, officials said, would be expanded to include all children and high-risk groups such as blue-collared workers and inmates at a later stage.

The vaccine will be administered from March 15 as a single dose at 12 months with two booster doses given at the ages of four and six.

“Due to its extremely contagious nature, varicella (chicken pox) is experienced by almost every child or young adult,” said Dr Fikri.

The disease is transmitted from one person to another either through respiratory secretions or direct contact with skin pellets and forms painful lesions on the skin. Although chicken pox is not dangerous, it can lead to complications such as bacterial infections of the skin, lungs, brain or joints.

“The disease causes high socioeconomic consequences to the child, family, school and country. In the United States, studies have shown that routine chickenpox vaccination is likely to save five times the investment,” he said. “Even when only direct costs were considered, benefits almost balanced the costs.”

The health official said the ministry had studied the epidemiology of the disease in detail. The chicken pox rate among the children between 2006 and 2010 was 461.7 for every 10,000 children under the age of five.

In 2010, the disease rate was 258.2 for every 100,000 children under the age of 15, according to a ministry report.

The Health Authority - Abu Dhabi has also lent support to the programme. A total of 93 cases were admitted to the Shaikh Khalifa Hospital Complex between 2000 and 2009.

“Of these, three had developed encephalitis, three had faciitis (flesh eating disease) and two suffered from pneumonitis,” explained Dr M. Huwidi, Consultant Paediatrician at Mafraq Hospital.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com