Immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) were measured in sera from subjects with acute varicella and herpes zoster, VZV-immune subjects remote from infection, and recipients of a live attenuated varicella vaccine, using a solid-phase radioimmunoassay. Primary infection with VZV was associated with early production of IgA antibodies. Among 36 subjects with varicella tes...

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to evaluate the association between varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-specific humoral and cell-mediated immunity (CMI) to herpes zoster (HZ) and protection against HZ morbidity and to compare immune responses to HZ and zoster vaccine. METHODS In 981 elderly persons who developed HZ during a zoster vaccine efficacy trial (321 vaccinees and 660 placebo r...

BACKGROUND Varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes chickenpox in children and zoster (zona) in the elderly. Using RFLP-PCR method for detection of VZV specific SNPs ORF38, 54 and 62 could distinguish the profile of VZV isolates. The aim of this study was to investigate enzymatic digestion pattern of VZV ORF38 and ORF54 in chickenpox patients using RFLP technique. METHODS Thirty-eight chickenpox p...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) causes varicella and herpes zoster, diseases characterized by distinct cutaneous rashes. Dendritic cells (DC) are essential for inducing antiviral immune responses; however, the contribution of DC subsets to immune control during natural cutaneous VZV infection has not been investigated. Immunostaining showed that compared to normal skin, the proportion of cells exp...

Major depressive disorder has been associated with activation of inflammatory processes as well as with reductions in innate, adaptive and non-specific immune responses. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between major depression and a disease-relevant immunologic response, namely varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-specific immunity, in elderly adults. A cross-sectional cohor...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) disease occurs in 30% of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients who had a history of VZV infection. A safe and effective prevention strategy has not been established. In a double-blind controlled trial, 77 hematopoietic cell transplant recipients at risk for VZV reactivation were randomized to acyclovir 800 mg twice daily or placebo given from 1 to 2 mo...

The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method was developed to distinguish between the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine (vOka) strain and wild-type strains. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (nucleotide [nt] 105705 for VR-1 VZV LAMP and nt 106262 for VR-2 VZV LAMP) located in the open reading frame 62 gene were selected as LAMP targets. Amplified vOka DNA demonstrated a ...

Background and Aims: Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection among pregnant women can cause a serious threat to the health of mother and fetus. Varicella is clearly less dangerous for immunized mothers. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of VZV antibody among women before marriage.  Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 women of child-bea...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a human alphaherpesvirus that infects sensory ganglia and reactivates from latency to cause herpes zoster. VZV replication was examined in human dorsal root ganglion (DRG) xenografts in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency using multiscale correlative immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. These experiments showed the presence of VZV genomic DNA, viral...

Since the introduction of varicella vaccination in India, surveillance of circulating VZV strains has gained significance. Differentiating wild-type VZV strains from the Oka vaccine strain can be achieved only by molecular genotyping methods. The development of PCR methods for VZV strain differentiation has been hampered by the fact that the VZV genome is highly conserved. We used VZV ORF 62 PC...