Perfil clínico-epidemiológico dos casos notificados de varicela no Brasil no período de 2010 a 2019

Abstract

Chickenpox is an infectious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus, primarily affecting children. Due to its high transmission rate and the acquisition of immunity following primary infection, the disease has a lower incidence among adults, who manifest it as part of the childhood cutaneous exanthematous syndromes. The present study is an ecological, descriptive investigation aimed at identifying the clinical and epidemiological profile of reported cases of chickenpox in Brazil between 2010 and 2019. The study population comprised all cases of chickenpox reported to the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) throughout the Brazilian territory during the second decade of the 21st century. The variables analysed included age group, educational level, sex, clinical outcome, and diagnostic criteria, obtained from secondary data provided by the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian Unified Health System (DATASUS), based on SINAN records. A total of 1,060,045 reported cases were evaluated, resulting in an average incidence of 53.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants during the study period. The most prevalent age group was children aged 1 to 4 years; educational level was classified as “not applicable” in 61.6% of cases, and the majority of cases were reported among males. More than 60% of reported cases progressed to recovery, and over 63% were diagnosed solely on clinical-epidemiological criteria. The findings enabled identification of the clinical profile of reported cases based on the analysed variables, determination that the average incidence was lower than that reported in the literature, and verification that the incidence has decreased over the years.