A study conducted by the Brenner Children’s Hospital, a part of the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center showed evidence of chickenpox worsening if the patient contracted the disease while on steroid therapy. Thomas McLean, a pediatric oncologist at the said hospital led this research. The study involved two groups of leukemia patients, those taking steroids during the time of disease contraction and those who did not received any steroid therapy. Results showed that more patients under steroid have severe cases of chickenpox which even resulted to death of two while those who did not receive steroids are relatively few.

The researchers explained that when a cancer patient is taking steroid treatment, the body’s immune system is suppressed, thereby, a virus attack could have a severe impact which can even cause death. Chickenpox can be life-threatening. Fortunately, in 1995, a vaccine was develop to combat this viral infection which caused an approximate 12,000 people to die prior to the vaccine release.

This study should not be considered as applicable only to leukemia patients but to all patients with various conditions and are taking steroids. Furthermore, this study aims to inform clinicians to carefully conduct patient’s history taking to determine if the patient already had chickenpox or not.

From Medical News Today:

“One of the things we need to remember to ask before we prescribe steroid treatment is whether the child has had a recent exposure to chicken pox,” McLean said. “If so, we recommend waiting until the incubation period has passed before beginning steroid therapy.”

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