Chickenpox--a disease predominantly affecting adults in rural West Bengal, India

Outbreaks of chickenpox were observed every year from 1970-74 in a small West Bengel village. The cases did not follow any definite pattern and were scattered throughout the village each year, occurring between March and June. Sixty-three per cent of cases occurred in people over 15 years old; the mean age at which infection took place was 23.4 years. The attack rate in susceptible children below the age of eight was very low. The transmission of the disease even in contact families was very low, although most families lived in small one-room houses. Epidemiological interference is suggested as a possible cause of the low infectiousness of this otherwise highly-communicable disease.