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Varicella

Checked: 23-04-2023 by Rob Adams Next Review: 23-04-2025

Overview

Please see links to CKS guidelines below:

Post exposure prophylaxis

Please see most recent guidelines for post exposure prophylaxis from the UK Health Security Agency:

Post exposure prophylaxis is recommended for individuals who fulfil all of the following 3 criteria:

  • significant exposure to chickenpox (varicella) or shingles (zoster) during the infectious period
  • at increased risk of severe chickenpox such as immunosuppressed individuals, neonates and pregnant women
  • no antibodies to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) – urgent VZV antibody testing can be performed within 24 hours (request on ICE)

Pages 6 and 7 of the document give the most relevant advice.

If further advice is required then please speak to the UKHSA Virology team at Infection Sciences, Southmead Hospital on 0117 414 6222



Efforts are made to ensure the accuracy and agreement of these guidelines, including any content uploaded, referred to or linked to from the system. However, BNSSG ICB cannot guarantee this. This guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer, in accordance with the mental capacity act, and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs they are considering. Practitioners are required to perform their duties in accordance with the law and their regulators and nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

Information provided through Remedy is continually updated so please be aware any printed copies may quickly become out of date.