There has been a spike in instances of chickenpox infecting vaccinated children around the state, although Hunter New England Health say there is no reason to be concerned.
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While chickenpox, or Varicella is a highly contagious viral disease recent leaps in immunisations have seen both incidents and severity drop significantly.
HNEH Director of Health Protection Dr David Durheim said that the vaccine is “very good, but not perfect”, while a rise in cases during spring is also expected.
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“It is about 95 per cent effective, which means that 10-30 per cent of people exposed will develop mild symptoms,” he said.
“That is one of the key reasons we want as many people vaccinated as possible, that is why we don’t have the major outbreaks that we used to have.”
Symptoms of chickenpox include slight fever and mild cold like symptoms followed by the appearance of red spots which develop a blister on top and can become itchy.
Infected people are only contagious for 24-48 hours before the marks appear, and remain contagious until the blisters scab over, typically within five days of appearing.
“Chickenpox is transferred by fluid, either from coughing or contact with the blisters,” Dr Durheim said.
“Chickenpox can lead to infection during pregnancy which can be dangerous, and can also be dangerous for people with suppressed immune system and the elderly, which is another reason we want people vaccinated to build that herd immunity,” Dr Durheim said.
Chickenpox is no longer notifiable, although “there are generally a few cases in late winter early spring.”
