AIM AND BACKGROUND Herpes zoster is a viral disease caused by the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) which remained latent in the cranial nerve or dorsal root ganglia. Cell-mediated immunity is known to decline with age as part of immunosenescence and can lead to the reactivation of VZV. Whereas herpes zoster is usually mild in healthy young persons, older patients are at increased ri...

Multiple neurologic complications may follow the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV), including herpes zoster (also known as zoster or shingles), postherpetic neuralgia, vasculopathy, myelitis, necrotizing retinitis, and zoster sine herpete (pain without rash). These conditions can be difficult to recognize, especially as several can occur without rash.

JCB • VOLUME 168 • NUMBER 3 • 2005 348 Saving varicella from suicide aricella zoster virus (VZV) causes both varicella (chickenpox) and zoster (shingles). VZV spreads throughout the body, but it does so slowly, and virus only emerges extracellularly in the skin where it can spread to other hosts. That behavior is now explained by Zhenglun Zhu (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA), Jason Chen, An...

JCB • VOLUME 168 • NUMBER 3 • 2005 348 Saving varicella from suicide aricella zoster virus (VZV) causes both varicella (chickenpox) and zoster (shingles). VZV spreads throughout the body, but it does so slowly, and virus only emerges extracellularly in the skin where it can spread to other hosts. That behavior is now explained by Zhenglun Zhu (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA), Jason Chen, An...

Varicella zoster virus (VZV), the causative agent of chicken pox and shingles, can cause severe systemic infections of the CNS and the respiratory tract in immunocompetent individuals as well as in immunocompromized patients.The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the prevalence of antibody Varicella zoster virus in different age groups.The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) ...

Acute herpes zoster can recur with activation of the varicella zoster virus (VZV) that has laid dormant in the sensory ganglia. VZV is initially transmitted via direct contact with or inhalation of aerosolized droplets. In the United States alone, 90% of people are susceptible to the reactivation of the VZV that they harbor. Furthermore, there is approximately a 10% to 20% lifetime risk for her...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) glycoprotein I (gI) is dispensable in cell culture; the SCIDhu model of VZV pathogenesis was used to determine whether gI is necessary in vivo. The parental and repaired viruses grew in human skin and thymus/liver implants, but the gI deletion mutant was not infectious. Thus, gI is essential for VZV infectivity in skin and T cells.

Shyam S. Moudgil, MD Three weeks after developing zoster rash, a 34-yearold, previously healthy woman presented with right arm weakness and gait dysfunction. MRI of the cervical spine revealed abnormal cord signal (figure). CSF demonstrated lymphocytic pleocytosis, elevated immunoglobulin G (IgG) index, and anti–varicella zoster virus (VZV) IgG antibodies. VZV DNA was not detected. She was trea...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation results in zoster, which may be complicated by postherpetic neuralgia, myelitis, meningoencephalitis, and VZV vasculopathy. This review highlights the clinical features, laboratory abnormalities, imaging changes, and optimal treatment of each of those conditions. Because all of these neurological disorders produced by VZV reactivation ...

We analyzed the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) transcriptome in 43 latently infected human trigeminal ganglia (TG) with postmortem intervals (PMIs) ranging from 3.7 to 24 h. Multiplex reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) revealed no VZV transcripts with a PMI of <9 h. Real-time PCR indicated a significant increase (P = 0.02) in VZV ORF63 transcript levels but not the virus DNA burden with longer PM...