title: Varicella vaccination in children with chronic renal failure. A report of the Southwest Pediatric Nephrology Study Group.
abstract: Children with kidney disease are at risk for serious varicella-related complications. To evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a two-dose regimen of varicella vaccine in children (aged 1-19 years) with chronic renal insufficiency and on dialysis, the Southwest Pediatric Nephrology Study Group (SPNSG) undertook an open-label, multi-center, prospective 3-year clinical trial. Ninety-six patients without history of varicella were enrolled. Fifty (mean age 4.2 years) had no detectable varicella zoster virus (VZV) antibody; 98% seroconverted after the two-dose regimen. At 1, 2, and 3 years' follow-up, all patients studied maintained VZV antibody, including 16 who received a transplant. No significant vaccine-associated adverse events were seen. One subject developed mild varicella (10-50 maculopapular lesions) 16 months post transplant. In multivariate regression analysis, patients vaccinated after age 6 years had VZV antibody levels 73% (95% confidence interval 33%-89%) lower than patients vaccinated before age 6 years after controlling for gender, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and dialysis treatment. Adjusted analysis also showed that VZV antibody levels were lower after kidney transplantation, but this appeared to be a transient phenomenon. In this study, varicella vaccination with a two-dose regimen of varicella vaccine was generally well tolerated and highly immunogenic in children with chronic kidney disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287-2535, USA. sfurth@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Furth
authors.forename: Ronald J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hogg
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tarver
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Moulton
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Fivush
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007223:Infant; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000601:surgery; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine