Epidemiology of varicella in Tianjin, 2008-2012

Objective To investigate the incidence of varicella in Tianjin during 2008-2012 and provide scientific evidence for varicella prevention and control. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis and correlation analysis were conducted on the surveillance data of varicella and vaccination data in Tianjin during 2008-2012 with Excel 2010 and SPSS 16.0 software Results A total of 39 983 varicella cases were reported during this period. The average annual incidence was 64.83/lakh. The cases were mainly reported in the suburbs. The incidence peaks were observed from April to June and November to January. The cases mainly occurred in children under the age of 15 years. The cases were mainly students. A total of 39 varicella related public health emergencies were reported during this period. The attack rates of the disease ranged from 0.19% to 30.30%.The primary schools in urban area were mostly affected.The varicella vaccination rate was 82.71% in children aged 1-6 years Vaccination rate was negatively correlated with morbidity. Conclusion The varicella epidemic was serious in Tianjin. It is necessary to strengthen the immunization in risk population and include varicella vaccine in immunization program to improve immunization coverage and herd immunity.