how many people were infected by chicken pox in 2006?

Question

like i said, how many people were infected by chicken pox by 2006? was it fatal(number of fatalities) and in what countries? PLEASE HELP! this would REALLY help me for my science work. thank you ...

Answer 1

It usually takes a while before this kind of data gets released. Expect to have 2006 numbers available next year (seriously). The most recent data I can find in the US is 2004. Don't expect data from other countries, either. Not everybody has the kind of public health infrastructure that would allow them to keep track of ANYTHING (it's hard enough to get reasonably precise AIDS data -- chicken pox is even less of a priority).

Chicken pox (varicella) is NOT a reportable disease in most places in the US. Therefore most health departments are not required to keep data and stats on the number of cases. In most places, you'll only either be able to get figures on varicella deaths, or simple estimates of the number of infections based on hospital and physician surveys.

The CDC has an ongoing study called the Varicella Active Surveillance Project. Some selected sites in the US (we have one near me) collect data on chicken pox and shingles by interviewing doctors and patients. From the data collected in the study, the CDC can estimate how many cases the US gets every year and extrapolate a lot of info about how varicella affects Americans.

As for whether varicella is fatal, it can be. In my region, varicella deaths are reportable, so we have solid data on it.

And since it's not my job to do your homework for you, here are some keywords you should Google so you can get the info you need to write an A+ report:
"varicella"
"varicella active surveillance"
"varicella incidence 2006"
"varicella morbidity"
"varicella mortality"

And CDC info is always highly reliable: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/default.htm