文本框: Varicella vaccination: The Asian perspective Lee BW National University of Singapore, Singapore The OKA strain varicella vaccine has proven to be safe and efficacious. Post-licensure studies support pre-licensure data in that the vaccine has a favorable safety profile, and a low incidence of breakthrough varicella cases. Varicella, with its attendant complications, can therefore be added to the list of vaccine preventable diseases. For many Asian countries, this vaccine has been available for about 5 to 6 years. However, this vaccine is still not part of the national childhood immunization program in these countries. The barriers to vaccination include the misconception that varicella is only a benign childhood illness, and the cost of the vaccine is still relatively substantial. However, the economic burden posed by this disease and the societal cost is also substantial. Several cost-effective studies carried out in the Western populations as well as data from Singapore favor a universal infant immunization program, from the point of view of societal cost. An effective tetravalent measles–mumps–rubella–varicella combination vaccine would be an obvious solution in the already crowded childhood immunization program.