Chickenpox—A Disease Predominantly Affecting Adults in Rural West Bengal, India

Abstract

Sinha, D.P. (The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene of Hygiene and Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA) Chickenpox-a disease predominantly affecting adults in rural West Bengal, India. International Journal of Epidemiology 1976, 5: 367–374. Outbreaks of chickenpox were observed every year from 1970–74 in a small West Bengal village. The cases did not follow any definite pattern and were scattered throughout the village each year, occuring between March and June. Sixty-three per cent of cases occurred in people over 15 years old; the mean age at which infection took place was 23.4 years. The attack rate in susceptible children below the age of eight was very low. The transmission of the disease even in contact families was very low, although most families lived in small one-room houses. Epidemiological interference is suggested as a possible cause of the low infectiousness of this otherwise highly-communicable disease.