Thursday, March 16, 2000
Chickenpox vaccine may be required
But critics say bill is intrusive
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Chickenpox for most kids means an itchy week off from school. The only lasting damage is a few tiny scars from the blister-like sores that once covered their bodies.
But in rare cases, this rite of passage can be dangerous. Some 9,600 Americans are hospitalized and as many as 100 die from the disease every year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pediatricians and public health officials increasingly push parents to get their children vaccinated against the dis ease. Now a state senator wants to require the inoculation for those who haven't been exposed before entering school.
While the legislation is supported by most physicians, it also is renewing a contentious debate about the politics of medicine and parental rights.
“As a father of four, I see no reason why we should continue to expose our children to a potentially fatal disease that is so easily preventable,” sponsoring Sen. Bruce Johnson, R-Westerville, told the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday.
Mr. Johnson's bill would require all Ohio children 12 and younger to have the chickenpox vaccine before the 2001-02 school year. Children who have had the disease would not need the vaccination, but their parents would be required to inform school officials.
Twenty-two states require the vaccine. Health officials in Kentucky and Indiana recommend it.
If the Ohio bill is approved, the chickenpox vaccine would join a growing list of shots required before kindergarten. The state already requires kids to be immunized against polio,
tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, mumps, measles and rubella. Lawmakers added a three-dose hepatitis B inoculation last year.
Unlike the hepatitis B requirement, which was tucked into an unrelated hazardous-waste bill and didn't become the subject of public hearings until opponents complained, there promises to be debate about the chickenpox vaccine this spring.
“Who should be making medical decisions in this state, patients in consultation with their doctors or state lawmakers in Columbus?” said Kristine Severyn, a Dayton pharmacist and director of Ohio Parents for Vaccine Safety.
Ms. Severyn, leader of an unsuccessful effort to block the hepatitis B vaccine requirement last year, contends the chickenpox bill is designed to benefit busy parents and the vaccine's manufacturer, not children.
She cites a 1994 study touted by the bill's proponents that estimated Americans lose $439 million a year in time away from work while caring for children with the disease.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded that a nationwide chickenpox vaccination program would save $5.40 for every $1 invested in the inoculations, with much of the savings attributed to parents being able to remain at their jobs.
The vaccine, called Varivax and manufactured by Merck, costs between $50 and $70 and typically is covered by health insurance. State health officials estimate they will need $2 million a year to cover vaccinations for children whose parents don't have private insurance.
“Ohio marks the latest effort by Merck to require this vaccine in every state, which would guarantee the company annual sales of nearly $7 million for each new class of kindergartners in Ohio alone,” Ms. Severyn said.
Although Ohio law allows parents to reject any immunizations for their children based on medical, religious or philosophical objections, she contends few schools notify parents they can seek such an exemption.
Medical groups and the CDC recommend the chickenpox vaccine for children ages 12 months to 12 years. About 37 percent of Ohio children now get the vaccine, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
“There is no hidden agenda here,” Mr. Johnson said.
The biggest unknown about the vaccine is how long it will last. Chickenpox is more dangerous for adults than children.
Chickenpox — officially known as varicella — is a highly contagious cousin of the herpes virus and afflicts 3.7 million children a year. More than 90 percent of Americans catch chickenpox before adulthood.
PRO AND CON
Pending legislation would require all Ohio schoolchildren to be immunized against chickenpox starting in 2001.
• Proponents say the vaccine, approved for general use by the Food and Drug Administration in 1995, is safe and effective. Some 9,600 Americans are hos pitalized and as many as 100 die each year from the disease.
• Opponents contend the proposed requirement is intended to benefit busy parents and the vaccine's manufacturer. They want decisions about the vaccine to be left to parents in consultation with their pediatrician.
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