We report 2 immunocompetent patients with myelitis. The first was a 55-year old man who developed myelitis after intercostal herpes zoster. The second was a 19-year-old boy who presented with myelopathy after varicella infection. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) myelitis was diagnosed based on the close temporal relationship between rash and onset of clinical symptoms, and by the elevated rate of a...

BACKGROUND Although intravenous acyclovir therapy is recommended for varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection in immunocompromised children, the clinical characteristics and outcomes of VZV infection in the acyclovir era have rarely been reported. METHODS The medical records of children diagnosed with varicella or herpes zoster virus, who had underlying hematologic malignancies, were retrospect...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection occurs primarily as chickenpox or herpes zoster. The VZV infection is generally considered self-limiting, with little associated morbidity and mortality. Fatal infections due to VZV were reported in the latter years of the 19th century and early in the 20th century. It was not until 1942 that VZV pneumonitis was recognized as a clinical entity with potenti...

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...

A 55-year-old man presented with unilateral iridocyclitis and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in his right eye. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the iris of a patient of Zoster Sine Herpete. No symptoms or signs of herpes zoster like neuralgia or cutaneous eruptions on forehead were noted. His iridocyclitis was treated and responded well wi...

Sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam(R); GlaxoSmithKline) is a pentavalent antimonial compound used in the treatment of leishmaniasis, which has an association with reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV). We report the first known case of an immunocompetent adult who developed VZV aseptic meningitis and dermatomal herpes zoster during treatment with sodium stibogluconate.

Herpes zoster is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which affects nerve ganglions. VZV infection may be associated with neurologic complications, which are usually observed after vesicular exanthem. Acute aseptic meningitis is a rare complication of VZV reactivation. We report the case of a previously healthy 14-year-old boy who suffered from aseptic meningitis that was attributed to r...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect varicella-zoster virus (VZV) DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with VZV infection associated with neurological symptoms. Positive results were obtained in three of five children with post-chicken pox cerebellitis and in seven of seven herpes zoster patients with neurological symptoms. The PCR thus provides a useful tool for the ear...

OBJECTIVE To demonstrate varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection in an asymptomatic extracranial (temporal) artery in a patient with ischemic optic neuropathy produced by VZV vasculopathy in whom the pathological changes were mistakenly identified as giant cell arteritis. DESIGN Case report. SETTING Teaching hospital, pathology and virology laboratory. PATIENT An 80-year-old man with left ...

OBJECTIVES Monitoring of the varicella-zoster virus is becoming an important tool for analysis of the circulation of individual strains of VZV which differ not only at the genomic level, but show a variability in their clinical and epidemiological characteristics. Such data are not available on a large scale from the Czech population and could help understanding the epidemiological and evolutio...