Chickenpox in a Swiss prison: Susceptibility, post-exposure vaccination and control measures

Abstract

After the occurrence of a case of chickenpox in Switzerland's largest pre-trial prison, protective measures including post-exposure vaccination were implemented, as chickenpox can cause severe complications in adults. Serology for chickenpox was carried out for all contacts of the index case and rapid post-exposure vaccination proposed to all prisoners with a negative history for chickenpox. Susceptibility was found in 14 out of 110 prisoners (12.7%; 95% confidence interval 6.5–18.9). The positive predictive value of a history of chickenpox was 90%. In this predominantly migrant population, susceptibility to chickenpox was approximately 6 times higher than in the general Swiss adult population. Since the attack rate among susceptible household contacts is usually high, preventive measures such as vaccination and quarantine probably allowed containment of the spread of infection.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Agnès Lehmann (Laboratory Unilabs, Geneva) and Bernard Cerutti (Statistician). This work was supported by the Federal Office of Public Health (grant number 09.003678), Bern, Switzerland, and by the Medical Direction of the Geneva University Hospitals.

Declaration of interest: No conflict of interest declared.