What is “breakthrough” disease?
A breakthrough infection is defined as a case of wild-type varicella that occurs more than 42 days after vaccination following exposure to wild-type virus. A breakthrough infection is usually very mild with mild or no fever; patients typically develop fewer than 50 skin lesions and experience a shorter duration of illness than those with natural infection who were not vaccinated. Breakthrough rate is estimated to be approximately 2% of vaccines per year and does not appear to increase with length of time since vaccination.
Related Questions
- If a person has received one dose of varicella vaccine and then later develops confirmed breakthrough disease, does the person need a second dose of varicella vaccine?
- If a parent reports that his/her child has had breakthrough disease, should the child receive a second dose of vaccine?
- What is "breakthrough" disease?
