Chickenpox prolonged outbreak in the military, Pamplona, Colombia, 2021-2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33610/01229907.2022v4n2a1Keywords:
Disease outbreaks, Military personnel, Chickenpox, Varicella, Chickenpox vaccineAbstract
Background: Chickenpox (Varicella) is a highly contagious infection that requires timely identification in confined populations such as military institutions. In February 2022, the National Institute of Health was notified of a possible outbreak of chickenpox in the military population of Pamplona, Norte de Santander. The field operation was deployed to characterize the outbreak, identify spread conditions, and formulate recommendations for control and prevention.
Methodology: Descriptive outbreak study. The outbreak is described in time, space and person with frequency calculation, attack rates and case isolation analysis using Epi info 7.2.2 software.
Results: The outbreak lasted 20 weeks, with 46 cases, non-serious; the attack rate in susceptible was 73 %, attack rate in vaccinated was 16,7%. The primary case came from another military compound. 51 % of the cases presenting symptoms were not isolated opportunely.
Conclusions: Confirmed outbreak of a long-term propagated source in the military. population. As factors that could favor the appearance of the disease, shortcomings were found in the isolating cases process, locative conditions, and prevention measures to improve. The recommendations focused on educating staff about symptoms and timely reporting, vaccination prior to incorporation, and follow-up on isolation, cleaning, and disinfection protocols.
References
Instituto Nacional de Salud. Protocolo de Vigilancia en Salud Pública Varicela. Protocolos de vigilancia en salud pública. Bogotá D.C, Colombia; 2017.
Ecured.cu. Pamplona (Colombia) [Internet]. Fecha de consulta: 5 de febrero de 2022. Disponible en: https://www.ecured.cu/Pamplona_(Colombia)
Asociación de Médicos de Sanidad Exterior (AMSE). Varicela. Epidemiología y situación mundial [Internet]. Inf. Epidemiológica. 2012. Fecha de consulta: 5 de julio de 2022. Disponible en: https://www.amse.es/informacion-epidemiologica/141-varicela-epidemiologia-y-situacionmundial
Instituto Nacional de Salud. Boletín Epidemiológico Semanal: Semana epidemiológica 02 de 2022. Colombia; 2022.
Instituto Nacional de Salud. Boletín Epidemiológico Semanal: Semana epidemiológica 04 de 2022. Colombia; 2022.
Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Módulos de principios de epidemiología para el control de enfermedades (MOPECE). 2nd ed. Serie PALTEX N° para Técnicos Medios y Auxiliares N°24. Washington D.C: OPS; 2002. 91 p.
ORENSTEIN WA, BERNIER RH, HINMAN AR. ASSESSING VACCINE EFFICACY IN THE FIELD. Epidemiol Rev. 1988;10(1):212–41.
Quian R. J, Protasio P. A, Dall’Orso V. P, Mas G. M, Romero O. C, Ferreira J. N, et al. Estudio de un brote de varicela en un pueblo del Uruguay. Rev Chil infectología. 2010 Feb;27(1):47–51.
Sinalkar D, Ray R, Sudumbrekar S. An epidemiological study of varicella outbreak in a military training establishment. J Mar Med Soc. 2019;21(1):31.
Ministerio de Salud y Protección social de Colombia. Lineamientos Técnicos y Operativos para la aplicación del refuerzo de la vacuna contra la varicela, en el Esquema de vacunación del Programa Ampliado de Inmunizaciones-PAI. Colombia; 2019.
Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades. Chickenpox Signos y síntomas de la varicela [Internet]. Varicela. Fecha de consulta: 27 de febrero de 2022. Disponible en: https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/symptoms-sp.html
Vázquez M, LaRussa PS, Gershon AA, Steinberg SP, Freudigman K, Shapiro ED. The effectiveness of the varicella vaccine in clinical practice. N Engl J Med. 2001 Mar 29;344(13):955–60.
How to Cite
Downloads
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Reporte Epidemiológico Nacional
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
