Varicella and its complications: a five-year retrospective analysis of hospitalized patients

A retrospective study of 1317 (741 males, 576 females) varicella patients (both children and adults) hospitalized in Czech Republic in 1997–2001 in selected departments of infectious diseases was carried out. Over the same period, 1977 cases of chickenpox were admitted in all infectious departments in Czech Republic. Analysed data thus represent 66.6% of all cases. Median age was 5.8 years. The mean length of hospital stay was 8.1 days. A high-risk history was recorded in 147 (11.2%), and 78 children (5.9%) were under immunosupressive therapy. Complications were reported in 851 patients (64.6%). Local complications (bacterial superinfection of skin lesions) were seen in 282 cases (21.4%), systemic complications occurred in 462 (35.1%) and both local and systemic complications were seen in 107 individuals (8.1%). The most frequent systemic complications were hepatopathy (27.4%), bacterial infections (20.2%), and central nervous system complications (18.3%). No significant differences were found in the number of complications between immunocompromised and immunocompetent persons, but higher rates of complications were recorded in adults. The average direct cost per hospitalization was about 500 €.