A new study shows chicken pox is slowly being eliminated as more and more children - some 90 percent in the U.S. - are receiving a preventive vaccine.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association,

Says Dr. Abigail Shefer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Chicken pox vaccine is working. From 1994 to 2002, the rate of hospitalization decreased 88 percent. The rate of medical visits decreased almost 60 percent."

The findings come from CDC researchers' evaluation of the health records of some 2 million babies, children, teens and adults.

Young infants benefit the most from the results, despite the fact that you must be 1 year old in order to receive the chicken pox vaccine.

Says Dr. Shefer, "Even though they're not able to receive the vaccine because they're too young, they benefited because the rates declined so greatly in children, adolescents and adults and therefore there was less disease circulating for infants to be exposed to."

Anyone over 1 year old can receive the chicken pox vaccination. After age 13, two doses are needed four weeks apart for protection.