[Active chickenpox vaccination of children with acute leukemia or other neoplastic diseases]

Abstract

26 patients with acute leukemia and other malignancies susceptible to varicella were vaccinated during maintenance chemotherapy. Vaccination was done with OKA strain of live attenuated varicella vaccine developed by Takahashi 1974. All recipients showed no adverse clinical reactions. There was no spread of vaccine virus to others. Seroconversion was 94% in seronegative patients. In those having low antibody titers before vaccination in 56% booster effect was demonstrable. None of the seroconverted recipients contracted varicella in spite of documented contact exposure. Vaccine zoster was not observed. The results suggest that in immunocompromised children live varicella vaccination has a protective effect against varicella infection which has a described mortality rate up 7% in this patients.