Chickenpox is a relatively mild disease in healthy children but may be life threatening in immuno-suppressed patents, neonates, and normal adults, especially smokers-for whom the risk of varicella pneumonia is high. The epidemiology of chickenpox appears to be changing: There has been an unexplained upward shift in the age distribution of cases over the last 20 years. This is reflected by incre...

Introduction. The circulation of infectious diseases puts small infants too young to be vaccinated at risk of morbidity and mortality, often requiring prolonged hospitalization. Material and Methods. We have reviewed the medical records of children not eligible for vaccination because of age, admitted to hospital for pertussis, measles, or varicella from February 1, 2010, till February 1, 2012....

On January 30, 2015, the public health department of a Maryland hospital was notified of a patient who developed a disseminated rash after receiving the live attenuated zoster vaccine, Zostavax (Merck). Zostavax is routinely provided to adults aged ≥50 years for the prevention of herpes zoster (shingles). The patient, a man aged 51 years, was evaluated in an outpatient clinic on postvaccination...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B vaccination for healthcare workers (HCWs) is a key component of the WHO Hepatitis B Elimination Strategy 2016-2021. Data on current hepatitis B vaccine coverage among health care workers in Sub-Saharan Africa are scarce, but these data are vital for effective programming. We assessed the proportion of HCWs vaccinated for hepatitis B and the factors associated with adequat...

BACKGROUND Varicella is a highly infectious disease with a significant public health and economic burden, which can be prevented with childhood routine varicella vaccination. Vaccination strategies differ by country. Some factors are known to play an important role (number of doses, coverage, dosing interval, efficacy and catch-up programmes), however, their relative impact on the reduction of ...

An interval of at least six weeks between the two doses Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine increased concentrations neutralising antibodies, research funded by Department Health and Social Care for England has found.1 The preprint, released on 23 July, looked immune responses in 503 healthcare workers who had received Pfizer vaccine. It found that, after second dose, antibody were higher an 6-14...

It is unknown whether healthcare workers' facial hair harbours nosocomial pathogens. We compared facial bacterial colonization rates among 408 male healthcare workers with and without facial hair. Workers with facial hair were less likely to be colonized with Staphylococcus aureus (41.2% vs 52.6%, P = 0.02) and meticillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (2.0% vs 7.0%, P = 0.01). Colo...

INTRODUCTION Epidemiological data on latex sensitisation among Asian healthcare workers is lacking. The aim of the study is to determine the rate of latex sensitisation in our healthcare workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS We recruited 313 healthcare workers, of which 46.6% were operating theatre staff and 53.4% were non-operating theatre staff. Seventy-one administrative staff served as controls....