Specific IgM varicella-zoster antibody was detected in "convalescent" sera from 20 out of 40 patients (50%) with herpes zoster infections. Since these were not primary infections with varicella-zoster virus, it seems that detection of IgM antibody specific for a particular virus may not differentiate a primary infection from secondary infections with that virus.

Varicella-zoster virus can cause a distinct congenital syndrome, a potentially fatal neonatal infection and life-threatening maternal illness. Physicians can reduce morbidity from these conditions by advising nonimmune pregnant women to avoid exposure to chickenpox and herpes zoster and, when indicated, by promptly administering varicella-zoster immune globulin. When prevention fails, acyclovir...

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...

SUMMARY Herpes Zoster Cephalicus or Ramsey-Hunt syndrome is second only to Bells palsy as the most common cause of acute facial paralysis. The varicclla zoster virus is thought to be responsible for this syndrome; Involvement or the racial and auditory nerve. In this article, a patient who was admitted with vesticular eruption of the external car with facial paralysis, and auditory symptoms i...

OBJECTIVES Varicella and Herpes Zoster are common infectious diseases. Various studies have estimated rates of infection for both manifestations of these infections; however rates of hospital admissions across the country have not previously been described. This paper presents data on hospital admissions in England for Varicella and Herpes Zoster from 2001/2002 to 2010/2011. DESIGN Time trend...

Blazed up Herpes zoster lesions have been described in very few patients after free and pedicled flap transfer for reconstructive purpose. Although sensory recovery after flap reconstructions has been studied extensively most studies addressed subjective perceptions of sensation. Objective investigations of spontaneous reinervation of free and pedicled flaps are rare. We would like to present a...

Sir, Herpes zoster manifests as a result of the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV), in latent infection, in the sensory ganglia of the cerebral and spinal nerves. It is caused by various factors after childhood chickenpox. The vesicular eruption clusters around the sensory nerve distribution and is accompanied by severe pain. As the skin lesion recovers dependent on the extent of necr...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the paper was to explore the relationship between herpes zoster and pyogenic liver abscesses in Taiwan. METHODS This was a nationwide cohort study. Using the database of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program, there were 33049 subjects aged 20-84 years who were newly diagnosed with herpes zoster from 1998 to 2010 that were selected for our study, and they were o...

Herpes zoster (shingles) is caused by reactivation of the latent varicella zoster virus which is present due to an earlier varicella infection (chicken-pox). Herpes Zoster is a less common and endemic disease than varicella, although factors causing reactivation are still not well known, but it occurs in older and/or immunocompromised individuals. Involvement of C3, T5, L1, L2 and first divisio...