- With Mayo Clinic internist
James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
James Steckelberg, M.D.
Dr. James Steckelberg is chairman of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Mayo Clinic, a consultant and a professor of medicine at Mayo Medical School.
A native of Fremont, Neb., Dr. Steckelberg was a Rhodes Scholar and graduated from the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine as a resident in internal medicine and a fellow in infectious diseases, and is board certified in both. He is the former director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Steckelberg belongs to numerous professional organizations. He is a founding member of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society of America and a fellow with the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He has served on many Mayo Clinic committees and is a member of the Department of Medicine Leadership Committee and the executive committee of the Division of Infectious Diseases. He also served on the editorial boards of "Mayo Clinic Proceedings" and "Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy" and has been an editorial reviewer for more than a dozen publications.
Dr. Steckelberg's research interests include experimental models of infection, epidemiology of infection, and antimicrobial resistance and therapy of bacterial infections.
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Question
Chickenpox vaccination: Is it 100 percent effective?
Is the chickenpox vaccination 100 percent effective?
Answer
from James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
No vaccine is 100 percent effective in preventing disease. For the chickenpox vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nine out of 10 people who are vaccinated with two doses are completely protected from chickenpox. If a vaccinated person does get chickenpox, it's usually a mild case with only a few pox sores that may resemble bug bites instead of the typical fluid-filled chickenpox blisters. However, even a mild infection can be contagious.
In the United States, chickenpox vaccination is a routine childhood immunization. Children receive the first dose between the ages of 12 and 15 months and the second dose between the ages of 4 and 6 years. Adults who have never had chickenpox or who haven't received two doses of the chickenpox vaccine also should get vaccinated.
