If someone in your family gets chickenpox and you haven't had it, or been

 

 

 

 

 

vaccination
A vaccination is an injection a doctor can give you to protect you from getting an infectious illness (an illness that spreads between people).

 

 

 

 

 

vaccinated against it, you have a 9 in 10 chance of getting it.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Coole L, Law B, McIntyre P.
Vaccines for preventing varicella in children and adults (Cochrane review).
In: The Cochrane Library. Update Software, Oxford, UK.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

Almost everyone in the United States used to get chickenpox. But chickenpox has become much less common, because 4 out of 5 children now have the chickenpox vaccine (to learn more, see What treatments work for chickenpox?). The vaccine has been used in the Unites States for 10 years.

Before the vaccine was used:

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Varicella disease questions & answers.
June 2007. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/dis-faqs-gen.htm (accessed on 27 July 2009).

 

 

 

 

 

²

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