After measles now also chickenpox in Berlin

In Berlin, more and more people are suffering from chickenpox

06/03/2015

In Berlin, the number of chickenpox infections has risen sharply this year. So far, a total of 240 cases have been reported. After the measles, the outbreak of chickenpox in the state capital is now already the second infectious disease that vaccination could protect against. Experts see the vaccine fatigue as the main cause of the increase in case numbers.

Chickenpox is usually more severe in adults than in children
As a spokeswoman for the State Office for Health announced on Wednesday in Berlin, already 240 chickenpox infections have been registered. In the past week alone, 22 new cases were reported. After the authorities had already recorded a significant increase in 2014, this trend seems to continue. According to the spokeswoman, the vaccine fatigue in Germany is a reason for the spread of the disease. Within one year, the number of patients would have tripled to 1,577.

Many people are unaware of how dangerous a chickenpox infection could be. While the infection caused by varicella-zoster virus is usually milder in children, it occurs less frequently in adulthood, but usually with a more severe course. Complications include meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain), lung (pneumonia) and hepatitis. In about 20 percent of people who were already suffering from chickenpox, occurs in their further life at least once a shingles (herpes zoster) on. Varicella zoster viruses remaining in the body migrate along sensory nerve fibers into the dorsal root ganglia and remain there. For example, if the immune system is weakened due to stress, the virus can be reactivated and cause shingles.

Most recently, a rise in the number of measles patients led to a debate over statutory vaccination obligations, which could now be fueled again by the current chickenpox decline. (Ag)