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A study examines whether the effectiveness of the varicella vaccine is affected either by time since vaccination or by age at the time of vaccination. It was found that if administered at younger than 15 months, the vaccine's effectiveness was lower in the first year after vaccination.

Chickenpox vaccine is very effective in preventing chickenpox or reducing the severity of the disease. The vaccine was approved by the FDA in 1995.

While behavioral and psychopharmacological approaches are the most effective interventions for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), psychodynamically oriented play therapy can enhance the treatment of children with this disorder. Play therapy techniques are useful in addressing treatment resistance, feeling of shame around OCD symptoms, negative self-concept, and issues of psychosocial adjustment. A case study illustrates this integrated approach to treatment.

This article explores Jewish-Israeli attitudes toward human rights (HR) activism and patriotism, based on responses to a questionnaire answered by 503 people. We examined how Jewish-Israelis perceive three HR NGOs, based on their political orientations, religious beliefs and level of education, including attitudes concerning the relationship between HR activism and patriotism. While the left-wing and secular respondents tended to exhibit more support for such work than the other groups, HR activism was often seen as unpatriotic. Educational level did not often play a role in attitude formation. Furthermore, the left-wing and centrists often showed unexpected attitudes. Analyses of written comments on the issues showed they were highly emotional and negative. We offer psychosocial explanations for the results and conclude that Jewish-Israeli attitudes toward HR work, in connection to patriotism, needs further study, especially among left-wingers and centrists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than 10 years, a vaccine called Oka has been under evaluation in the US for immunization against varicella-zoster virus, the causative agent of chickenpox. The vaccine consists of a strain of live virus which is attenuated, that is, which no long possesses the virulence of its wild type ancestor. However, since the virus in the vaccine is alive, there remains some risk of clinical infection, as well as complications. For chickenpox, the most common serious infection is herpes zoster, which causes shingles. The chickenpox virus can cause a latent infection in nerve ganglia which can then never be eradicated. The latent infection can develop into the painful lesions of herpes zoster affecting the skin served by the infected nerves. It has already been established that the attenuated varicella vaccine causes shingles in some patients. However, it is also clear that the risk of developing shingles after receiving the vaccine are no greater than after having a case of chickenpox, and may in fact be lower. Children suffering from leukemia are at higher risk than normal children for herpes zoster following a natural varicella infection. A study was conducted to compare the risk of developing a herpes zoster infection after immunization with the risk of herpes zoster following natural infection. In a series of 548 leukemia patients who had been immunized against varicella, herpes zoster developed in 13 patients over an average of 4.5 years of follow-up. Measurements of immune system function in some patients showed cell-mediated immunity tended to be lower among the children who developed herpes zoster. To compare this risk with the risk of natural infection, a sample of 96 children was selected from the 548 patients and matched with a control sample of 96 leukemia patients who had suffered a case of chickenpox. There were four cases of herpes zoster among the immunized patients and 15 cases among the children who had recovered from natural infections. These results indicate that even though the live vaccine can cause herpes zoster, the risk is still lower than that which may occur following a natural varicella-zoster infection. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Midlife women's political consciousness may be importantly influences by a preoccupation with generativity. Analysis of three case studies suggests the importance of several elements for a developmental perspective on women's (and perhaps men's) midlife political activity: childhood family political ideology; earlier adolescent and adult political activity; influences of particular social and historical events at different developmental stages; a desire to be generative or to 'make a contribution'; experiences as a parent; and access of midlife to time, energy, and personal resources. In addition, the importance of defining 'political activity' broadly, and in the terms meaningful to women themselves, is underlined. Finally, the satisfaction associated with recognizing the continuity in one's life commitments must be appreciated as one element of women's midlife political consciousness.