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Prevention of Shingles by Vaccination
Childhood vaccination to prevent varicella was introduced in the United States in 1995, and other countries adopting this strategy include Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, and South Korea. Prior to the availability of a varicella vaccine, there were approximately 4 million cases of varicella a year in the U.S. Although varicella is frequently perceived as a disease that does not cause serious illness, especially among healthy children, however 11,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths occurred every year in the United States before varicella vaccine became available. The majority of deaths and complications occurred in previously healthy individuals.
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