”What to do when I am exposed to varicella (chickenpox)during the infective period?". One topic debated much today was about the efficiency of acyclovir as a chemoprophylactic agent in immunocompetent persons. All of us know there is an effective, safe time tested the vaccine against varicella . The only problem with this is the cost, Need two doses and cost two thousand rupees for a dose. So even though this is relevant for prevention, a country like ours can not afford.
Ideally, all of us should get immunized against ie primary prevention. In that case, the above question does not occur. Still, there is an answer to the above question Vaccination even after exposure (post-exposure vaccination ) is effective in varicella. This is possible because the incubation period of this illness is long enough ie two to three weeks. If we give vaccine early after contact protective level of…
