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Congenital and neonatal varicella in Australia
Author(s) -
Forrest JM,
Mego S,
Burgess MA
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1754.2000.00474.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pediatrics , incidence (geometry) , congenital malformations , chickenpox , pregnancy , virology , virus , physics , biology , optics , genetics
Objective : To establish the incidence and severity of congenital and neonatal varicella in Australia. Methodology : Demographic and clinical details were obtained by postal questionnaire regarding cases notified to the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit by over 930 participating clinicians in 1995–97 inclusive. Results : Seven cases of congenital varicella (1 : 107 000 pregnancies/year) followed maternal infection at 8–26 weeks: five had defects, two did not. Four of the seven infants with congenital varicella developed herpes zoster in the first 15 months of life. Forty‐four infants had neonatal varicella (1 : 17 000 pregnancies/year). Conclusion : There is an ongoing, albeit low, incidence of congenital and neonatal varicella in Australia.