Preventive Care

• Chicken Pox vaccine (which has been available since 1995) is given to every child over 1 year old; if you (or your child) receive the vaccine before age 13, then you only need one dose. If you receive the vaccine when you are older than 13 (which may be recommended if you have not yet had chickenpox or received the vaccine), then you should get a second dose 1 to 2 months later.
• If you have never had chickenpox or the vaccine, avoid contact with anyone who has chickenpox and avoid contact with the skin lesions of anyone with shingles.
• To avoid spreading to others, children with chickenpox should be kept out of school or day-care until all of the blisters have scabbed over.