Varicella surveillance in public elementary schools--Multnomah County, Oregon, 2002-2004.
Varicella vaccination of school-aged children reduces the number of varicella cases and lost days of school. In 1996, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended routine vaccination of all children aged 12-18 months, catch-up vaccination of all susceptible children before age 13 years, and vaccination of susceptible persons who have close contact with persons at high risk for serious complications and susceptible persons at high risk for exposure. In 1999, ACIP updated these recommendations to include vaccination requirements for child care and school entry. Since 2000, in accordance with ACIP recommendations, varicella vaccination requirements have been phased in for Oregon children who have not had varicella before starting out-of-home child care, kindergarten, or seventh grade; elementary school children will be fully covered by school year (SY) 2006-07. To monitor changes in varicella incidence, Oregon Health Services (OHS) and Multnomah Education Service District (MESD) started routine, individual, case-based varicella surveillance in Multnomah County public elementary schools (kindergarten through 5th grade) beginning SY 2002-03. This report describes the surveillance system, the incidence of varicella during SY 2002-03 and SY 2003-04, and the results of active surveillance for unidentified cases during SY 2002-03. The findings indicate that the number of varicella cases has decreased in Oregon and that establishing public elementary school-based varicella surveillance is feasible and useful.
D002644:Chickenpox / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D017150:Public Sector; D012574:Schools; D014611:Vaccination
D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine