 During 2003, and the first half of 2004, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported eight deaths from varicella, six of whom were children or adolescents.These deaths and hospital admissions have substantially declined in the US due to vaccination, though the rate of shingles infection has increased as adults are less exposed to infected children (which would otherwise help protect against shingles).Ten years after the vaccine was recommended in the US, the CDC reported as much as a 90% drop in chickenpox cases, a varicella-related hospital admission decline of 71% and a 97% drop in chickenpox deaths among those under 20.