PEDIATRICS Vol. 88 No. 3 September 1991, pp. 604-607
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dennehy, P. H.
Right arrow Articles by Veloudis, B. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dennehy, P. H.
Right arrow Articles by Veloudis, B. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Immunogenicity of Subcutaneous Versus Intramuscular Oka/Merck Varicella Vaccination in Healthy Children

Penelope H. Dennehy MD1, Keith S. Reisinger MD, MPH2, Mark M. Blatter MD2, and Barbara A. Veloudis RN3

1 The Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence; Department of Pediatrics, Brown University, Providence
2 Pittsburgh Pediatric Research, Inc, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3 The Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence

To compare the immunogenicity and safety of varicella vaccine by either subcutaneous or intramuscular injection, 166 healthy children aged 12 months to 10 years old who had no prior history of varicella were enrolled from two pediatric practices and randomly assigned to receive 0.5 mL of a single lot of varicella vaccine. Sera from the day of and 6 weeks postvaccination were tested for varicella antibody by gpELISA. Parents recorded clinical events occurring in the 6 weeks following vaccination. In the 132 evaluable children, the mean prevaccination titer was 0.3 gpELISA units for both groups. Sixty-three (97%) of the 65 receiving varicella vaccine by the subcutaneous route seroconverted compared with 67 (100%) of 67 immunized intramuscularly. Postvaccination geometric mean titer in the subcutaneous group was 6.9 ± 7.0 gpELISA units and did not differ significantly from the geometric mean titer of 10.5 ± 4.4 in the intramuscular group. Varicella vaccine was generally well tolerated by either route; 21% of both groups complained of reactions at the injection site and 7% had a varicella-like rash. Although varicella vaccine is recommended to be given subcutaneously, the results of this study indicate that inadvertent intramuscular administration of varicella vaccine is not reason for revaccination.

Key Words: immunization • varicella vaccine

Submitted on May 25, 1990
Accepted on October 17, 1990


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?