Severe chickenpox disease and seroprevalence in Sweden – implications for general vaccination

Chickenpox is the clinical manifestation of primary infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) and a mild disease in the vast majority of cases. However, complications occur, primarily bacterial infections of vesicles, sometimes with deeper infection and sepsis, as well as neurological complications; e.g. encephalitis, meningitis, or classically acute cerebellitis with ataxia. Rare complications such as pneumonitis, hepatitis and haemorrhagic complications may occur (Gershon et al., 2018). There is even an increased risk of stroke in the time period 6 months after a chickenpox episode (Thomas et al., 2014).

Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases - August 8, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: K Widgren, L Persson Berg, A M örner, L Lindquist, A Tegnell, J Giesecke, M Studahl Source Type: research