ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to characterize the epidemiology of varicella and varicella-associated complications in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE) during 2000-04. The annual number of reported cases varied from 373 to 790 per 100 000 population. Most (89%) occurred in children < 15 years old. Of 187 children requiring hospital admission, 50.3% had febrile illness due to secondary bacterial infection and 17.6% had neurological complications. The overall mortality rate among hospitalized children was 1.1%, all due to invasive group A Streptococcus. Varicella and associated complications in previously healthy children is becoming an important clinical and public health problem in the UAE.
Subject(s)
Chickenpox/complications , Chickenpox/epidemiology , Child Welfare/statistics & numerical data , Cost of Illness , Adolescent , Age Distribution , Central Nervous System Diseases/virology , Chi-Square Distribution , Chickenpox/prevention & control , Child , Child, Preschool , Fever/virology , Hospital Mortality , Hospitalization/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Population Surveillance , Seasons , Statistics, Nonparametric , Streptococcal Infections/virology , Streptococcus pyogenes , Superinfection/virology , United Arab Emirates/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to characterize the epidemiology of varicella and varicella associated complications in Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates [UAE] during 2000-04. The annual number of reported cases varied from 373 to 790 per 100 000 population. Most [89%] occurred in children < 15 years old. Of 187 children requiring hospital admission, 50.3% had febrile illness due to secondary bacterial infection and 17.6% had neurological complications. The overall mortality rate among hospitalized children was 1.1%, all due to invasive group A Streptococcus. Varicella and associated complications in previously healthy children is becoming an important clinical and public health problem in the UAE
