Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics B, Schneider Children's
Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv
University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Note: [] Correspondence: Ben Zion Garty, MD, Department of Pediatrics B,
Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva 49202, Israel. Tel.:
+972 3 925 3681; Fax: +972 3 925 3899; E-mail: bgarty@clalit.org.il,
gartyb@gmail.com
Abstract: Although varicella is considered a common benign childhood
infection, it accounts for significant morbidity and, in rare cases, may cause
death. During the last years, a live attenuated vaccine is available, but has
not been routinely incorporated into the vaccination program in Israel. In
order to determine the magnitude of varicella complications and the
epidemiology of the disease, we retrospectively studied records of 304 children
with varicella hospitalized in a single medical center in Israel over a
six-year period. Mean age of the patients was 2 years and 9 months (range: 2
weeks-21 years), and mean hospital stay was 4.5 days. Two hundred thirty-three
patients (77%) were otherwise healthy and 71 (23%) had an underlying
disease. The majority of children (n=252, 83%) were hospitalized because
of complications, mainly skin and soft tissue bacterial infections (n=142,
47%), followed by pneumonia or pneumonitis (n=56, 18%),
gastrointestinal symptoms (n=44, 14%), and central nervous system
complications (n=40, 13%), including febrile seizures (n=25, 8%).
Thirty-four children (11%) were immunocompromised and were hospitalized
mainly for intravenous acyclovir treatment. There were no varicella-related
deaths. Varicella continues to cause substantial morbidity and poses a
significant economic burden in Israel. Further studies are needed to examine
the cost-effectiveness of varicella vaccination in Israel.
