Table 2.
Underlying medical conditions, complications and outcomes of varicella-related A&E attendance and inpatient admissions
| A&E attendance in public hospitals | Inpatient admission in public hospitals | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | |
| No. of cases | 14 144 | – | 2860 | – |
| Underlying medical conditions | ||||
| Pregnancya | 15 | 1.2 | 87 | 19.0 |
| Immunodeficiency (any)b | 0 | – | 110 | 3.8 |
| Lymphoproliferative malignancy | 0 | – | 50 | 1.7 |
| Malignancy of solid organ/tissue | 0 | – | 21 | 0.7 |
| Transplant | 0 | – | 22 | 0.8 |
| HIV | 0 | – | 5 | 0.2 |
| Other immunodeficiency conditionc | 0 | – | 25 | 0.9 |
| Complicationb | 97 | 0.7 | 575 | 20.1 |
| Pneumonia | 12 | 0.1 | 92 | 3.2 |
| Varicella pneumonitis | 4 | 0.0 | 10 | 0.3 |
| Other pneumonia | 8 | 0.1 | 82 | 2.9 |
| Neurological disorder | 6 | 0.0 | 35 | 1.2 |
| Encephalitis | 0 | – | 12 | 0.4 |
| Ataxia | 0 | – | 10 | 0.3 |
| Meningitis | 6 | 0.0 | 13 | 0.5 |
| Myelitis | 0 | – | 2 | 0.1 |
| Other unspecified viral infection of the central nervous system | 0 | – | 0 | – |
| Septicaemia/sepsis | 0 | – | 21 | 0.7 |
| Bacterial infections (including scarlet fever and bacterial infection caused by Streptococcal and Staphylococcal species) | 0 | – | 238 | 8.3 |
| Bacterial superinfection of skin and/or soft tissue | 14 | 0.1 | 101 | 3.5 |
| Cellulitis, abscess and erysipelas | 13 | 0.1 | 83 | 2.9 |
| Impetigo | 1 | 0.0 | 17 | 0.6 |
| Fasciitis | 0 | – | 3 | 0.1 |
| Ophthalmic disorders (including conjunctivitis and keratoconjunctivitis) | 11 | 0.1 | 14 | 0.5 |
| Congenital varicella infection | 0 | – | 0 | – |
| Outcome | ||||
| Hospitalisation | 563 | 4.0 | NA | NA |
| Median length of stay (days) | NA | NA | 4 | |
| Among cases with complications | NA | NA | 5 | |
| Among cases without complications | NA | NA | 4 | |
| ICU admission | NA | NA | 19 | 0.7 |
| Among cases with complications | NA | NA | 6 | 1.0 |
| Among cases without complications | NA | NA | 13 | 0.6 |
| Death | 0 | 0.0 | 9 | 0.3 |
| Among cases with complications | – | – | 6 | 1.0 |
| Among cases without complications | – | – | 3 | 0.1 |
a
Pregnancy among females aged 20 years or above.
b
More than one type of immunodeficiency/complications were coded in some episode of A&E attendance and admission.
c
These include conditions such as white blood cell diseases, Thalassaemia major, aplastic anaemia, asplenia or other splenic diseases, other specified diseases with the participation of lymphoreticular and reticulohistiocytic tissue, patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy and other conditions affecting the immune system.