The Evaluation of Hospitalized Children with Varicella and its Complications in a Training Hospital

Objective: Varicella is a common childhood disease in non-vaccinated populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the data of children with varicella and its complications. Material and Methods: The hospital records of 63 children hospitalized for varicella and its complications between January 2006 and December 2010 were reviewed. Age, gender, time of hospitalization, type of complication, duration and cost of hospital stay and treatment options were assessed.Results: Out of the 63 children, without a history of varicella vaccination, 60.3% were boys. The median age was 16 months, median hospital stay was 7 days. The peak hospitalization rates were in 2007 (38.1%) and during Spring (38.1%). The most common complication was due to respiratory system involvement (41.3%) followed by secondary skin infections (17.4%) and neurologic complications (15.9%). In the comparison of complication groups based on age groups, a significant difference between 1-2 years and ≥6 years groups was observed (p=0.009). Patients older than ≥6 years stayed longer in hospital than the other age groups (p<0.001). The median durations of acyclovir treatment and antibiotherapy were 6 days (0-14 days) and 7 (0-20 days) days, respectively. According to the complication groups, significant differences were observed in acyclovir treatment, antibiotherapy and duration of hospital stay (p=0.018, p=0.01, p=0.01, respectively) but no difference in the cost (p=0.19). The cost of a patient’s day and the median cost were calculated as 75.32 TL (48.59 $- 58.38 $) and 433.67 TL 862.2-3252 TL). The median cost per patient was 204.17$ in 2006, 344.95$ in 2007, 331.60$ in 2008, 281.98$ in 2009 and 276.31$ in 2010. No significant difference in hospital cost and duration of stay between years were observed (p=0.557 and p=0.053, respectively). According to the cost, a significant difference was observed in duration of stay, antibiotherapy and acyclovir treatment (p<0.01). Conclusion: Varicella and its complications cause significant morbidity with high hospitalization rates and costs. We believe a varicella vaccination program in Turkey will be beneficial in reducing the hospitalization rates and costs.