He said it's hard to reach parents of incoming kindergarteners because they can't send a note home the year before. Under the new law, children attending day care must get the varicella vaccine by July 1. Children entering pre-kindergarten or kindergarten must get it before school starts in August or September. Children who already have had the disease are exempt. While most U.S. schoolchildren suffer no lasting effects from chicken pox, except a scar or two, the disease kills about 100 people each year and sends 10,000 to the hospital, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Some children suffer serious scarring.
It also causes hundreds of missed school days. The varicella vaccine was approved in the U.S. in March 1995, and the CDC recommends it be given to everyone over 12 months of age who hasn't had chicken pox. According to a three-year study published March 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the vaccine is 87 percent effective in preventing moderate or severe cases of the disease. That is considered very good, and an editorial accompanying the study said widespread immunization certainly appears worth it. But it's still unclear whether some children should be revaccinated, or how long the immunity lasts.