Although varicella vaccine is given to clinically stable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children, its effectiveness is unknown. We assessed its effectiveness by reviewing the medical records of closely monitored HIV-infected children, including those receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) between 1989 and 2007. Varicella immunization and development of varicella or ...

Congenital varicella syndrome refers to the spectrum of fetal anomalies associated with maternal varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection during the first trimester of pregnancy. The syndrome is rare and the risk to the fetus uncertain. We describe an unusual case of congenital varicella syndrome in which hydrocephalus was the main consequence and likely represented VZV reactivation in utero.

OBJECTIVE Varicella-zoster virus has been reported to produce serious, often life-threatening, disease in immunosuppressed patients with a variety of diagnoses. The impact of this virus on the young child after heart transplantation has not been reported. METHODS We reviewed the charts of 28 children who were <10 years of age at heart transplantation and had at least 1 year of follow-up. The ...

BACKGROUND Varicella remains an important public health issue in China. In this study we explored the effect of weather conditions on the incidence of varicella in the temperate city of Jinan, Eastern China during 2012-2014 to inform public health prevention and control measures. METHODS Data on reported cases of varicella were obtained from National Notifiable Disease Report System. Meteorol...

Atypical dendritic keratitis has been described following herpes zoster infection. This is the first reported case of atypical dendritic keratitis following classical varicella infection It also provides the first light and electron microscopic description of the varicella-zoster dendritic corneal lesion. The diagnosis is substantiated by the clinical appearance of the lesion and by the presenc...

A 30-year-old pregnant woman had skin lesions at 38 weeks of gestation. She was diagnosed as primary varicella zoster infection. Her clinical symptoms were high fever and generalized vesicles eruption. No serious maternal complication was found. The patient delivered a male baby 4 days after she developed skin lesions. The neonatal blood IgM against varicella zoster was negative. The baby was g...

Universal immunization of young children with 1 dose of varicella vaccine was recommended in the United States in 1995, and it has significantly decreased the incidence of chickenpox. Outbreaks of varicella, however, are reported among vaccinated children. Although vaccine effectiveness has usually been 85%, rates as low as 44% have been observed. Whether this is from primary or secondary vacci...

OBJECTIVES To present an up-to-date review of studies investigating the efficacy, adverse events and vaccination regimens of the varicella vaccine and the new presentation combined with the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. SOURCES OF DATA Bibliographic review of the MEDLINE and LILACS databases covering the period 1999 to 2006. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS The varicella vaccine protects 7...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a member of the Herpesviridae family, which causes varicella (chicken pox) and herpes zoster (shingles) in humans. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of varicella-zoster virus, isolated from a vesicular fluid sample, revealing the circulation of VZV clade VIII in Mexico.

In the industrialized countries of the West, varicella is largely a childhood disease, whereas reports from tropical countries indicate a significant incidence of varicella among adults. High ambient temperature, epidemiologic interference from other viruses, and race have been blamed. We tested our hypothesis that less exposure to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) during childhood in rural areas ac...