Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17991685›Full record

ArticleArchives of disease in childhood2007

Severe complications of chickenpox in hospitalised children in the UK and Ireland.

J C Cameron, G Allan, F Johnston, A Finn, P T Heath, R Booy

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Archives of disease in childhood, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
5.7field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 123 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Vaccination in people with disability: a review.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2020
    Review
  16. Burden of varicella complications in secondary care, England, 2004 to 2017.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2019
    Article
  17. Varicella zoster virus vaccines: an update.ImmunoTargets and therapy · 2019
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

J C CameronHealth Protection Scotland, Glasgow G3 7LN, Scotland, UK. claire.cameron@hps.scot.nhs.uk
G Allan
F Johnston
A Finn
P T Heath
R Booy
Health Protection Scotland · GBNational Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance · AUSt George's, University of London · GBUniversity of Bristol · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsTo estimate the annual incidence of hospitalisations due to severe complications of varicella, describe the complications and estimate annual mortality.

methodsActive surveillance throughout the UK and Ireland for 13 months by paediatricians notifying cases to the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit and completing a questionnaire. The case definition was any child aged <16 years hospitalised with complicated varicella, as defined by a list of conditions, or admitted to ICU/HDU with varicella.

results188 cases were notified for the surveillance period, of which 112 (0.82/100 000 children/year) met the case definition and were not duplicates. Confirmed cases had a median age of 3 years (range 0-14). The complications were: bacteraemia/septic shock (n = 30), pneumonia (n = 30), encephalitis (n = 26), ataxia (n = 25), toxic shock syndrome/toxin-mediated disease (n = 14), necrotising fasciitis (n = 7), purpura fulminans/disseminated coagulopathy (n = 5), fulminant varicella (n = 5) and neonatal varicella (n = 3). 52 children (46%) had additional bacterial infections. Six deaths were due, or possibly due, to varicella, including one intrauterine death. Four of the other five children who died (ages 2-14 years) had a pre-existing medical condition. Sequelae on discharge were reported for 41 cases (40%), most frequently ataxia or skin scarring. The median length of hospital stay was 7 days (range 1-68).

conclusionsThis study provides a minimum estimate of severe complications and death resulting from varicella in children in the UK and Ireland. Most complications, excluding deaths, occur in otherwise healthy children and thus would be preventable only through a universal childhood immunisation programme.

Indexed as

AdolescentAge DistributionBacterial InfectionsChickenpoxChildChild, PreschoolEpidemiologic MethodsFemaleHospitalizationHumansInfantInfant, NewbornIrelandLength of StayMaleOpportunistic Infections

Identifiers

PMID17991685
PMCPMC2066097
OpenAlexW2061998051

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.