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Prospective surveillance of hospitalisations associated with varicella-zoster virus infections in children and adolescents

Bonhoeffer, Jan ; Baer, Gurli ; Muehleisen, Beda ; Aebi, Christoph ; Nadal, David ; Schaad, Urs ; Heininger, Ulrich

In: European Journal of Pediatrics, 2005, vol. 164, no. 6, p. 366-370

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    Titre
    • Prospective surveillance of hospitalisations associated with varicella-zoster virus infections in children and adolescents
    Auteur
    • Bonhoeffer, Jan. Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, P.O. Box, 4005, Basel, Switzerland
    • Baer, Gurli. Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, P.O. Box, 4005, Basel, Switzerland
    • Muehleisen, Beda. Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, P.O. Box, 4005, Basel, Switzerland
    • Aebi, Christoph. Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
    • Nadal, David. Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Schaad, Urs. Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, P.O. Box, 4005, Basel, Switzerland
    • Heininger, Ulrich. Division of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, P.O. Box, 4005, Basel, Switzerland
    Type de document
    • Postprint
    Langue
    • Inglese
    Publié dans
    • European Journal of Pediatrics, 2005, vol. 164, no. 6, p. 366-370. Springer-Verlag
    Autre version électronique
    Identifiant OAI-PMH
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:313509
    Summary
    Our goal was to determine the epidemiology of severe varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infections in hospitalised paediatric patients. Admissions associated with VZV infection of patients aged 0-16 years were reported by all 38 paediatric units in Switzerland to the Swiss Paediatric Surveillance Unit (SPSU) during 3 consecutive years (4/2000-3/2003). We verified completeness of reporting by capture-recapture analysis with patient records identified by ICD-10 codes. Outcome of illness was assessed 6 months after hospitalisation. A total of 335 cases (235 identified by SPSU reports, 100 by ICD-10 code) were included in this study. Mean age of patients was 4.1 years (median 3.5 years, range 0-16 years); 54% were male. Some 293 (87%) patients presented with chickenpox, 42 (13%) with herpes zoster and 291 (87%) patients were not immunocompromised. A total of 319 complications occurred in 237 (71%) patients: secondary bacterial infections (n =109); central nervous system involvement (n =76); VZV pneumonitis (n =7); others (n =127). Eleven (3%) patients required intensive care and three died. On follow-up, 303 (96%) of 315 patients had completely recovered; sequelae were present in 12 (4%) patients. The calculated hospitalisation rate was 13 per 104 cases. Conclusion:This study describes a sizeable hospitalisation and complication rate of varicella-zoster virus infections and provides a solid basis for future immunisation recommendations in Switzerland