Varicella outbreak in a daycare: challenges and opportunities for preventing varicella outbreaks in this setting
Irini Daskalaki1, Rodrerica Thermitus, Dana Perella
1From the *Division of Disease Control, Philadelphia Department of Public Health; †Department of Pediatrics, Drexel University College of Medicine; ‡Department of Pediatrics, St Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA; and §Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Abstract:
As a result of single-dose varicella vaccination, daycare outbreaks have become rare. We investigated a daycare outbreak resulting from a misdiagnosed varicella case in an unvaccinated attendee. Of 25 attendees aged 12-32 months without evidence of immunity, 7 (28%) were unvaccinated due to religious/philosophical opposition or recent 1st birthday. Single-dose vaccination reduced disease by 92% compared with no vaccination.
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