Varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes two diseases: Varicella, a generalized, primary infection, and herpes zoster (zoster), a secondary infection caused by latent VZV reactivation. Zoster can also be caused by latent VZV reactivation after a varicella vaccination. The complications associated with varicella include cutaneous infections, which are the most common, as well as pulmonary and neurolo...

We performed an ecological study using sentinel consultation data from a medical deputising service to assess the impact of increasing coverage with childhood varicella vaccine on the incidence risk of varicella and zoster in the population served by the deputising service in Victoria, Australia from 1998 to 2012. Following a successful vaccination programme, the incidence of varicella in Austr...

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...

Herpes zoster arises from reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), causing varicella in children. As reactivation occurs when cell-mediated immunity (CMI) declines, and there is evidence that re-exposure to VZV boosts CMI, mass varicella immunization might increase the zoster burden, at least for some decades. Fear of this natural zoster boom is the main reason for the paralysis of var...

BACKGROUND Whether exogenous exposure to varicella-zoster-virus protects individuals with latent varicella-zoster virus infection against herpes zoster by boosting immunity is not known. To test the hypothesis that contacts with children increase exposure to varicella-zoster virus and protect latently infected adults against zoster, we did a case-control study in south London, UK. METHODS Fro...

The varicella zoster virus primarily causes chickenpox. Herpes zoster is a typical late manifestation with reactivation of latent virus in sensory ganglia. Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease. Herpes zoster has been assumed to be less contagious, but studies have shown that reactivation of the varicella zoster virus also leads to significant spread of the virus (1–4). There has been incre...

Varicella zoster virus fetopathy occurs in infants after infection with varicella-zoster virus from mother during the fi rst two trimesters of pregnancy. The authors describe the case of a female infant, aged 4 months, which came under observation for neuro developmental delay for chronological age. Neurological exam, abnomalities detected on ophthalmologic examination, maternal history of gest...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a ubiquitous human alphaherpesvirus that causes varicella (chicken pox) and herpes zoster (shingles). Varicella is a common childhood illness, characterized by fever, viremia, and scattered vesicular lesions of the skin. As is characteristic of the alphaherpesviruses, VZV establishes latency in cells of the dorsal root ganglia. Herpes zoster, caused by VZV reacti...

Varicella zoster virus causes two distinct clinical diseases. Varicella is the primary infection and results from exposure of a person susceptible to the virus. The virus remains latent in cranial nerve ganglia, dorsal root ganglia, and autonomic ganglia along the entire neuraxis. Years later, in association with a decline in cell-mediated immunity in the elderly and immuno-compromised, varicel...

Reactivation of latent Varicella-Zoster virus may cause various neurological complications including meningitis, encephalitis, myelitis, vasculopathy resulting in stroke and pseudotumor cerebri. It occurs mainly in elderly or immunocompromised patients and is very rare in children. We report a 4-year and 6-months old immunocompetent boy who developed encephalitis and cerebellites, due to reacti...