Chickenpox cases in Bahrain have dropped by nearly 89 per cent since a vaccine against the contagious viral infection was introduced in 2015, according to a recent study.
The ‘Effect of varicella vaccine introduction on chickenpox incidence in Kingdom of Bahrain’ study was conducted by a team of Health Ministry, Arabian Gulf University and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Bahrain researchers including Afaf Merza Mohamed, Hasan Isa, Malak Husain Hasan, Maram Husain Hasan, Ali Moosa, Janan Husain Radhi, Basma Al Saffar and Adel Al Sayyad.
Varicella is commonly known as chickenpox and is a highly contagious acute infectious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV).
The study was published in Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics, an international, peer-reviewed medical journal.
“The introduction of routine childhood varicella vaccination in Bahrain resulted in a substantial decline in the incidence of varicella, particularly among vaccine-eligible children,” researchers noted in the abstract of their study. “Severe diseases requiring hospitalisation are rare and occur only in unvaccinated individuals.”
The retrospective national study included all clinically-diagnosed chicken pox cases reported in Bahrain between 2010 and 2024.
The symptoms of chicken pox include an itchy rash that turns into fluid-filled blisters and eventually crusts into scabs, often accompanied by fever, tiredness and headache.
The disease spreads easily through the air via coughing or sneezing, or through direct contact with blister fluid.
The chickenpox vaccine provides safe and effective protection, which has made the disease much less common today.
Since the vaccine was introduced in 2015, the study found that incidence per 100,000 people dropped from 251.8 to 28.5, a decline of 88.7pc.
The researchers studied 32,177 confirmed chickenpox cases in total, finding that seasonal peaks in April were more evident between 2014 and 2019 but became less pronounced thereafter.
This is in line with regional trends from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and researchers speculated that this may be due to environmental and social factors like ideal temperatures and close social contact.
Most diagnosed patients were male (57.4pc), Bahraini nationals (69.1pc), or unvaccinated (90.1pc). The most affected age groups were children aged five to nine (36.1pc) and zero to four (28.4pc).
More than 98pc of the cases were managed in primary healthcare settings. Only 12 of the unvaccinated patients (0.1pc) required hospitalisation.
Researchers noted that the marked decline especially after 2019 could also be due to Covid-19 related social distancing, in addition to the effect of vaccination.
“Severe disease was uncommon following the introduction of the varicella vaccine in Bahrain,” researchers noted.
“More than 98pc of the cases reported between 2014 and 2024 were managed in primary healthcare settings, and only 12 cases required hospital admission.”
“Notably, none of the hospitalised cases were vaccinated, and most admissions occurred among adults.”
The pattern suggests that vaccination not only reduced the spread but also the severity of the disease, requiring minimal inpatient care.
Researchers emphasised the importance of maintaining the vaccination programme and continuous surveillance to keep the disease at bay.
“Continued surveillance is needed to monitor disease incidence, residual seasonality, age-specific trends, long-term vaccine impact, breakthrough infection and severe outcomes,” researchers explained.
“Further studies are needed to identify factors that can affect varicella vaccine uptake such as socioeconomic status, population mobility, school attendance patterns and access to healthcare services.”
naman@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))