"Many people are not aware that before a vaccine was available approximately 10,600 persons were hospitalized and 100 to 150 died as a result of chickenpox in the U.S. every year."<p>That's from the CDC: <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/dis-faqs-gen.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/dis-faqs-gen.h...</a>