A 74-year-old white man presented with unilateral radicular pain extending across the left side of his chest and back. A diagnosis of postherpetic neuralgia, a sequela of herpes zoster, was made. Herpes zoster represents a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus that lies dormant in patients with past chickenpox. Risk factors for the disease include advanced age, stress, immunodeficiency, an...

PURPOSE To examine whether herpes zoster antigen (also called varicella-zoster virus antigen) was detectable in temporal artery biopsies taken from individuals with giant cell arteritis (GCA). DESIGN Retrospective comparative case series. METHODS Sections of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded temporal arteries were examined first by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining to establish the diagnosis ...

In 1998, a varicella-zoster virus glycoprotein E (gE) mutant virus (VZV-MSP) was isolated from a child with chickenpox. VZV-MSP, representing a second VZV serotype, was considered a rarity. We isolated another VZV-MSP-like virus from an elderly man with herpes zoster. These gE mutant viruses may have arisen through independent mutation or may represent a distinct VZV subpopulation that emerged ...

A 21-month-old girl with neuroblastoma developed chronic verrucous Oka strain varicella-zoster infection during chemotherapy. Virus isolated from the patient demonstrated high-level acyclovir resistance, and its thymidine kinase had no in vitro enzymatic activity. After foscarnet therapy, she underwent stem cell transplantation without varicella reactivation. This is only the second reported ca...

Herpes zoster is caused by varicella zoster virus infection involving the dorsal root ganglia of spinal nerve roots. This common problem can be associated with multiple neurological abnormalities. We present a case of Herpes zoster affecting the T1 dermatome associated with ipsilateral Horner's syndrome and radicular weakness.

Herpes zoster results from reactivation of latent varicella zoster virus infection. Risk of zoster increases with age and with depressed cell mediated immunity, but relatively little is known about other factors. Case reports and case series have indicated that mechanical trauma may be a risk factor. But these studies had no control group, and physical mishaps and surgical trauma are common in ...

UNLABELLED Varicella zoster is an acute viral infection that results from reactivation of a latent varicella zoster virus. It usually occurs in adult population and immune compromised patients. It rarely occurs in healthy children. Here we present a 14 years old male with varicella zoster that had abdominal pain mimicking acute abdomen to alert others who are consulted for the differentiation o...

: The reactivated form of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is responsible for chickenpox, known as herpes zoster (HZ). Although it a self-limiting infection, presents debilitating and painful mucosal dermal vesicular eruptions. Early identification management are vital to curbing spread HZ infection. In this extensive review, we present an overview HZ, including its structure, pathophysiology, ...

The herpes zoster vaccine is made using high doses of live attenuated varicella/zoster virus. The vaccine is well tolerated and has few adverse effects: the most common one is pain at the injection site. Complications can occur mainly in persons who had prior zoster keratitis or uveitis. The vaccine can prevent this disease with low mortality but high morbidity.

Varicella-zoster virus can cause a distinct congenital syndrome, a potentially fatal neonatal infection and life-threatening maternal illness. Physicians can reduce morbidity from these conditions by advising nonimmune pregnant women to avoid exposure to chickenpox and herpes zoster and, when indicated, by promptly administering varicella-zoster immune globulin. When prevention fails, acyclovir...