Chickenpox Outbreaks Reported in the East Singhbhum

Introduction: Primary infection with Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) leads to varicella or chickenpox. The epidemiology of varicella has changed dramatically since the introduction of the varicella vaccine in 1995. The routine childhood immunization in a few countries in the western world like Germany and the United States had reduced the incidence of the disease, associated complications, hospital admissions and deaths related to its complications. However, chickenpox outbreaks are common in naive unvaccinated communities in India.

Materials and methods: We had investigated many outbreaks of chickenpox and reported in different areas of East Singhbhum in Kolhan region of Jharkhand during January 2018 to March 2019. The outbreak was confirmed by the detection of VZV IgM by Enzyme-Linked Iimmuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) on serum samples from the patients.

Results: A total of 76 cases occurred in the outbreaks in which 45 number of serum samples showed positive serology for VZV IgM antibodies.

Conclusions: There is an urgent need to identify naive communities and unvaccinated individuals at risk. Also, there is a need for regular training programmes of health workers posted in peripheral centres so that highly contagious communicable diseases can be picked up in time and such outbreaks can be prevented.