MMRV Vaccine Improved Pre-School Immunization

Some parents find the decision to vaccinate their children increasingly complex, with most schools now requiring immunization before matriculation.

A common concern of parents is the number of vaccines given in just a short timeframe.

To address this issue, healthcare providers have been delivering combination vaccines, which reduce the number of injections needed to be fully immunized.

Several countries have faced challenges when integrating the combination measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine into their immunization schedules.

The MMRV vaccines (Priorix-Tetra and ProQuad) offer the advantage of a single injection, which addresses these four viral diseases (measles, chickenpox, mumps and rubella.)

To address the sub-optimal immunization in Australia, health officials there made the decision to include the MMRV vaccine on the Australian vaccine schedule.

A new study evaluated the impact of the MMRV vaccine, since it was added to the schedule in 2013.

This study found the combination vaccine improved population-level protection when compared with the MMR vaccine which does not include protection from the varicella vaccine.

These researchers found on-time vaccination improved by 13.5% (from 58.9% to 72.4% of children).

Additionally, the benefits from immunization was occurring at a much earlier age.

This study examined if using the MMRV shot in the Australian program as the second dose would be linked to an increase in febrile seizures. This study found no increase in febrile seizures associated with this second dose given at 18 months.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccines, like any medicine, can have side effects.

Most people who get MMRV vaccine do not have serious problems. Getting the MMRV vaccine is safer than contracting either measles, mumps, rubella, or varicella, says the CDC.

Merck is the FDA approved manufacturer of the MMR and ProQuad vaccines. ProQuad is the MMR vaccine that additionally protects against varicella.

Both the MMR and MMRV vaccines are available at most pharmacies. The CDC Vaccine Price List provides current vaccine contract prices and list the private sector vaccine prices for general information.