Is chickenpox worse than usual in Anuradhapura?

Yes. Chickenpox in Anuradhapura is twice its usual for these weeks.

11 cases a week, against a usual 5.6.

0102030usual range2026JanAprJulOct

Read from these four weekly reports by Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka:

  • 20–26 Jul 2026 (Vol 53 No 31)
  • 26 Jul–2 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 32)
  • 3–9 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 33)
  • 10–16 Aug 2026 (Vol 53 No 34)
The 8 reports behind "usual"
  • 20–26 Jul 2024 (Vol 51 No 31)
  • 27 Jul–2 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 32)
  • 3–9 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 33)
  • 10–16 Aug 2024 (Vol 51 No 34)
  • 19–25 Jul 2025 (Vol 52 No 31)
  • 26 Jul–1 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 32)
  • 2–8 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 33)
  • 9–15 Aug 2025 (Vol 52 No 34)

The publisher's own list of its weekly reports

How this is worked out. The last four weeks against the same four weeks of the two years before, for Anuradhapura alone. What "usual" means.

When does chickenpox usually peak in Anuradhapura?

Usually around March and May: it peaked then in 7 of the last 11 years.

2014: peaked in week 52015: peaked in week 132016: peaked in week 182017: peaked in week 322018: peaked in week 202019: peaked in week 142020: peaked in week 72022: peaked in week 462023: peaked in week 92024: peaked in week 222025: peaked in week 14JFMAMJJASOND

One year's peak2025Now and the next ten weeks

From 11 years of weekly reports, 2014 to 2025: each dot is the month that year's chickenpox peaked in Anuradhapura.

How does Anuradhapura compare with the rest of Sri Lanka?

Anuradhapura is the highest of the 14 districts with enough cases to compare, each against its own usual.

usual⅛×8×32×country 1.2×Anuradhapura: 2.0×Badulla: 1.4×Colombo: 0.7×Galle: 1.3×Gampaha: 0.9×Hambantota: 0.3×Kalmunai: 1.0×Kalutara: 1.6×Kandy: 1.6×Kegalle: 1.1×Kurunegala: 1.0×Matara: 0.7×Nuwara Eliya: 1.1×Ratnapura: 0.6×Anuradhapura

Across Sri Lanka as a whole, chickenpox is at 1.2× its usual; in Anuradhapura it is 2.0×.

What is chickenpox?

A very catching illness caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The virus stays in the body afterwards and can wake up years later as shingles.

Signs
An itchy rash of small blisters, often starting on the face and scalp, that turn into scabs over about a week. Fever and tiredness may come first.
How it spreads
Through coughs and sneezes, or touching fluid from the blisters. People can pass it on from a day or two before the rash until every blister has scabbed.
How to protect yourself
Keep away from people who have it, don't share towels or cups, and wash hands. Someone with chickenpox should stay home until all spots have crusted and dried.
Get medical help
Get medical advice for babies, pregnant women, adults and people with weak immune systems, who can get very ill. Seek help for breathing trouble or infected sores. Never give children aspirin.

In Dooram's words, from the World Health Organization. Source: WHO: Chickenpox (questions and answers), read 8 October 2026. General information, not medical advice.

Chickenpox in every country Dooram reads ›

A reported case means someone reached a clinic and a form was filed, so these count reports, not everyone who was ill.

Sources. Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, weekly report. District maps: Survey Department of Sri Lanka, published as a Common Operational Dataset by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.