| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2019 | Volume
: 21
| Issue : 1 | Page : 31-35 |
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An epidemiological study of varicella outbreak in a military training establishment
Dattatraya Ramkrishna Sinalkar1, Rahul K Ray2, SM Sudumbrekar3
1 Department of Community Medicine, Station Health Organisation Portblair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
2 Department of Community Medicine, Head Quarters, Central Command, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
3 Department of Neurosurgery, Command Hospital Southern Command, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
Col Rahul K Ray
Community Medicine, Head Quarters, Central Command, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jmms.jmms_57_18
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Context: Though incidence of the Varicella has decreased in recent years due to introduction of vaccine; outbreaks continue to occur in closed environments such as those of militaries. The present study describes one such outbreak in a military training establishment. Setting and Design: This cross sectional study was conducted at a Secondary level hospital. Aims: To describe the distribution and characteristics of Varicella infections and to make suitable recommendations for prevention and control. Materials and Methods: All admitted cases of Varicella from a military training establishment during the outbreak were included in the study. Epidemiological data was collected by face to face interview. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was performed using Epinfo software version 3.5.3. Results: Total 332 recruits were admitted in the local military hospital in said outbreak. Eight administrative staffs of recruiting center and two medical staffs attending the patient at hospital were also affected. The age of the patients ranged from 18 to 34 years with a mean of 20.3 ± 3.5 years. None of the cases admitted had developed any complication and their hospital stay remained uneventful. Maximum cases (59%) were presented with rash as a first clinical manifestation and 94.3 % of them had history of contact with a case of Varicella. None of them gave a history of vaccination. Conclusions: Though policy to offer vaccination against Varicella to all recruits on entry level exists, it should be implemented on ground to ensure unnecessary interruption in training activities.
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