We report the first laboratory-documented case of herpes zoster caused by the attenuated varicella zoster virus (VZV) contained in Zostavax in a 68-year-old immunocompetent adult with strong evidence of prior wild-type VZV infection. The complete genome sequence of the isolate revealed that the strain carried 15 of 42 (36%) recognized varicella vaccine-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms...

P ATIENTS WITH LYMPHOMA, leukemia, multiple myeloma, or other conditions characterized by an altered immunologic state have an increased susceptibility to the manifestations of common viral infections. In such patients, disseminated infections with the DNA viruses, herpes simplex, and herpes zoster have carried a poor prognosis.1’2 Various attempts have been made to treat these disseminated inf...

The reverse isotopic response is a rarely encountered phenomenon. The spared lesions are various and mainly inflammatory in nature, with herpes zoster infection being the most common. A novel case of Stevens-Johnson syndrome triggered by carbamazepine sparing the skin area previously affected by herpes zoster infection in a 39-year-old Indian female with systemic lupus erythematosus is document...

CONTEXT Approximately 1 million episodes of herpes zoster occur annually in the United States. Although prelicensure data provided evidence that herpes zoster vaccine works in a select study population under idealized circumstances, the vaccine needs to be evaluated in field conditions. OBJECTIVE To evaluate risk of herpes zoster after receipt of herpes zoster vaccine among individuals in gen...

Varicella-zoster virus is one of six herpesviruses isolated from humans. The core of a typical herpesvirus contains a linear, double-stranded DNA, whereas the viral capsid is icosadeltahedral and contains 162 capsomeres with a hole running down the long axis (1). The varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is associated with two distinct clinical syndromes: varicella (chickenpox) and herpes zoster (shingl...

BACKGROUND Patients who develop herpes zoster or herpes zoster ophthalmicus may be at risk for cerebrovascular and cardiac complications. We systematically reviewed the published literature to determine the association between herpes zoster and its subtypes with the occurrence of cerebrovascular and cardiac events. METHODS/RESULTS Systematic searches of PubMed (MEDLINE), SCOPUS (Embase) and G...

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 ...

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to characterize the burden of herpes zoster, as well as the longitudinal and incremental changes of healthcare service utilization among individuals with herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) compared to those without. METHODS Using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), we established a herpes zoster cohort of people dia...

Latency within the nervous system is a characteristic feature of herpesviridae infection. It is reactivated by triggering factors such as UV exposure, stress, and trauma. Simultaneous reactivation of herpes simplex and herpes zoster is uncommon, however, an observation provably explained by differences in the triggering mechanism. Concurrent reactivation of herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varice...

Little is known on the relationship between herpes zoster and Parkinson's disease in older people. This study aimed to explore whether herpes zoster could be associated with Parkinson's disease in older people in Taiwan.We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the claim data of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. There were 10,296 subjects aged 65 years and older with newly dia...