Changing Epidemiology of Varicella Outbreaks in the United States during the Varicella Vaccination Program, 1995—2019

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Leung, Jessica ; Lopez, Adriana S. ; Marin, Mona
• Description:
  We describe the changing epidemiology of varicella outbreaks informed by past and current active and passive surveillance in the United States by reviewing data published during 1995-2015 and analyzing new data from 2016 to 2019. Varicella outbreaks were defined as ≥5 varicella cases within 1 setting and ≥1 incubation period. During the 1-dose varicella vaccination program (1995‒2006), the number of varicella outbreaks declined by 80% (2003-2006 vs 1995-1998) in 1 active surveillance area where vaccination coverage reached 90.5% in 2006. During the 2-dose program, in 7 states with consistent reporting to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of outbreaks declined by 82% (2016-2019 vs 2005-2006). Over the entire program (1995-2019), outbreak size and duration declined from a median of 15 cases/outbreak and 45 days duration to 7 cases and 30 days duration. The proportion of outbreaks with <10 cases increased from 28% to 73%. During 2016‒2019, most (79%) outbreak cases occurred among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated persons eligible for second-dose vaccination, highlighting the potential for further varicella control.
• Keywords:
  Chickenpox Disease Outbreaks Herpesvirus 3, Human Humans Immunization Programs United States Vaccination
• Source:
  J Infect Dis. 226(Suppl 4):S400-S406
• Pubmed ID:
  36265851
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10155060
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  226
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:e0bca529883b6271a881473dd4b4190de681a34a09dca9e6e3ae0110d78c951a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/127856/cdc_127856_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 340.07 KB ]