Recently a child in the wards developed varicella. It was desirable to safeguard all exposed children in order to shorten the period of quarantine and to protect the several very ill children from the additional strain incident to chickenpox.
Greenthal's1 report states that of thirty-six exposed persons who were vaccinated from the vesicle fluid of a patient suffering from varicella, nineteen gave positive reactions and sixteen negative reactions. In his series of cases, varicella did not develop in those persons who were vaccinated, successfully or unsuccessfully. With his observations in mind, it seemed probable that there might be equal success in preventing the spread of varicella in the wards. After a negative Wassermann reaction was obtained on the original patient, twenty-three exposed persons were vaccinated in the following manner: A vesicle was first cleansed with a solution of boric acid and then with a saline solution, and the content