Seasonal Incidence and Age-related Morbidity and Mortality of Varicella in Kerala
Year: 2017
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND \nAs the incidence of varicella in children is decreasing, the infection rate in the adults is on the rise. This study attempts to \nidentify the all-cause-mortality and morbidity rate of varicella in adults and also the seasonal pattern of varicella infection. \nMATERIALS AND METHODS \nVaricella is diagnosed clinically. The data is recovered from case records of all the patients admitted at Government Medical \nCollege, Kozhikode, continuously over 2007 to 2012. \nRESULTS \n640 patients were admitted with most of the cases in the age group of 20 to 40. 40% of the population belonged to above fifty \nyears. The mean duration of hospitalisation was 21.5 days in elderly against 5 days in young patients. The mortality rate was \nalso high in elderly (10.8% vs. 4%) The varicella epidemics peak towards January to April. \nCONCLUSION \nThe duration of hospital admission and the all-cause-mortality is much high in elderly population with varicella. Hence, there \nshould be attempts to vaccinate the susceptible elderly population. The disease peaks towards January to April; hence, resources \ncan be planned accordingly for proper utilisation.
Authors: Junais Koleri, Soopy Kayanaduth
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2734495091