Many physicians have not recognized varicella as a serious disease and are not advocating use of varicella vaccine. This retrospective study describes the morbidity and costs incurred by previously healthy children hospitalized at Arkansas Children's Hospital due to complications of varicella during a time period when an effective vaccine was approved for use. Fifty-five previously healthy children from 19 countries in Arkansas were hospitalized secondary to complications of varicella in the three years following release of varicella vaccine. Total numbers of hospital days for these patients were 192 with a cost totaling $252,084. Increased efforts are needed to vaccinate the children of Arkansas against varicella.