{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T11:27:33Z","timestamp":1783078053602,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,11]],"date-time":"2021-11-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1636588800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,11]],"date-time":"2021-11-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1636588800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Infect Dis"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Varicella is a highly contagious infection that typically occurs in childhood. While most cases have a generally benign outcome, infection results in a considerable healthcare burden and serious complications may occur.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>The objective of this study was to characterize the burden of varicella in a real-world primary care setting in Belgium, including the rate of varicella-related complications, medication management and general practitioner (GP) visits.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>The study was a retrospective observational study using data from a longitudinal patient database in a primary care setting in Belgium. Patients with a GP visit and a varicella diagnosis between January 2016 and June 2019 were eligible and data one month prior and three months after the diagnosis were included. Outcomes included varicella-related complications, antibiotic use, antiviral use, and GP follow-up visits. Antibiotic use could be specified by class of antibiotic and linked to a diagnosis. Complications were identified based on concomitant diagnosis with varicella during the study period.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>3,847 patients with diagnosis of varicella were included, with a mean age of 8.4\u00a0years and a comparable distribution of gender. 12.6% of patients with varicella had a concomitant diagnosis of a varicella-related complication. During the follow-up period, 27.3% of patients with varicella were prescribed antibiotics, either systemic (19.8%) and\/or topical (10.3%). The highest rate of antibiotic prescriptions was observed in patients with complications (63.5%) and in patients younger than 1 year (41.8%). Nevertheless, 5.3% of the patients were prescribed antibiotics without a concomitant diagnosis of another infection. The most commonly prescribed systemic antibiotics were amoxicillin alone or combined with beta-lactamase inhibitor, and thiamphenicol. Fusidic acid and tobramycin were the most prescribed topical antibiotics. Antivirals were prescribed for 2.7% of the study population. 4.7% of the patients needed a follow-up visit with their GP.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>This study reports a substantial burden of varicella in a primary care setting in Belgium, with high rates of complications and antibiotic use.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-021-06848-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,11]],"date-time":"2021-11-11T04:37:38Z","timestamp":1636605458000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Assessing the use of antibiotics and the burden of varicella in Belgium using a retrospective GP database analysis"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Jessica","family":"Vandenhaute","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elyonore","family":"Tsakeu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pierre","family":"Chevalier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manjiri","family":"Pawaskar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Goran","family":"Ben\u010dina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jan","family":"Vertriest","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"6848_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.2147\/ITT.S176383","volume":"8","author":"G Gabutti","year":"2019","unstructured":"Gabutti G, Bolognesi N, Sandri F, Florescu C, Stefanati A. 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The database has been fully audited for GDPR compliance; it is pseudonymized by a Third Party before being used by IQVIA and all precautions have been taken by design to avoid any risk of patient identification. Based on the recommendations of the Belgian Ethics Committees, available on the Federal agency for medicines and health products (FAMHP), on non-interventional studies, informed consent was not necessary []. Strict attention to confidentiality is present at every stage of data collection, storage and analysis in accordance with these recommendations. The protocol of this study has been reviewed and approved by Merk Center of Observational and Real-world Evidence.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"ET, PC and RC are employees of IQVIA, the CRO hired to manage the study and provide statistics and writing services. Dr. JV, Dr. MP, Dr. GB and JV are employees of MSD (Merck & Co., Inc. in USA and Canada). Dr MP and Dr GB are stock holder of MSD.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"1150"}}