Chicken Pox Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Chicken Pox, including details on symptoms, vaccine, adult, infant, treatment.

Asymptomatic reactivation and shed of infectious varicella zoster virus in astronauts.

Cohrs RJ, Mehta SK, Schmid DS, Gilden DH, Pierson DL

Department of Neurology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado 80262, USA. randall.cohrs@uchsc.edu

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes varicella (chickenpox), after which virus becomes latent in ganglia along the entire neuraxis. Virus reactivation produces zoster (shingles). Infectious VZV is found in vesicles of patients with zoster and varicella, but virus shed in the absence of disease has not been documented. VZV DNA was previously detected in saliva of astronauts during and after spaceflight, a uniquely stressful environment in which cell mediated immunity (CMI) is temporally dampened. The decline in CMI to VZV associated with zoster led to the hypothesis that infectious VZV would also be present in the saliva of astronauts subjected to stress of spaceflight. Herein, not only was the detection of salivary VZV DNA associated with spaceflight validated, but also infectious virus was detected in saliva from 2 of 3 astronauts. This is the first demonstration of shed of infectious VZV in the absence of disease.

Published 28 April 2008 in J Med Virol, 80(6): 1116-22.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Chicken Pox published 28 April 2008:

Genotypes of varicella-zoster virus wild-type strains in Germany.   J Med Virol, 80(6): 1123-30.

Surveillance of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) genotypes is indicated in Germany after implementation of universal varicella vaccination. This article reports genotyping data of 77 VZV strains obtained from 54 patients with varicella, 1 newborn with congenital varicella syndrome, 2 fetuses with intrauterine VZV infection and 20 cases with zoster. Fragments of the open reading frames (ORF) 1, 21, 22, 37, 50, 54, and 60 were analyzed by sequencing. In addition, the PstI polymorphism of the ORF 38 ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Chicken Pox published 22 April 2008:

Live, attenuated varicella zoster vaccination of an immunocompromised patient.   J Gen Intern Med, 23(5): 648-9.

A vaccine for the prevention of herpes zoster outbreaks in adults over the age of 60 years has recently been approved. A 76-year-old white female with a history of recurrent left axillary breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy was given a Zostavax injection by her primary care physician. Eight days later, the patient developed a rash. Given the recent administration of live, attenuated varicella zoster virus (VZV), a diagnosis of disseminated cutaneous herpes zoster was made. The patient was ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Chicken Pox published 28 March 2008:

Association of varicella zoster virus load in the aqueous humor with clinical manifestations of anterior uveitis in herpes zoster ophthalmicus and zoster sine herpete.   Br J Ophthalmol, 92(4): 505-8.

AIM: To investigative whether clinical manifestations of anterior uveitis are associated with the viral load of varicella zoster virus (VZV) in the aqueous humor in patients with herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) and zoster sine herpete (ZSH). METHODS: After informed consent was given, an aliquot of aqueous humor was collected from patients with VZV anterior uveitis (n = 8). Genomic DNA of the human herpes viruses was measured in the aqueous humor by two PCR assays: a qualitative multiplex PCR ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Chicken Pox published 26 March 2008:

Mechanisms of varicella-zoster virus neuropathogenesis in human dorsal root ganglia.   J Virol, 82(8): 3971-83.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a human alphaherpesvirus that infects sensory ganglia and reactivates from latency to cause herpes zoster. VZV replication was examined in human dorsal root ganglion (DRG) xenografts in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency using multiscale correlative immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. These experiments showed the presence of VZV genomic DNA, viral proteins, and virion production in both neurons and satellite cells within DRG. Furthermore, the ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Chicken Pox published 11 March 2008:

The varicella zoster virus vasculopathies: clinical, CSF, imaging, and virologic features.   Neurology, 70(11): 853-60.

BACKGROUND: Varicella zoster virus (VZV) vasculopathy produces stroke secondary to viral infection of cerebral arteries. Not all patients have rash before cerebral ischemia or stroke. Furthermore, other vasculitides produce similar clinical features and comparable imaging, angiographic, and CSF abnormalities. METHODS: We review our 23 published cases and 7 unpublished cases of VZV vasculopathy. All CSFs were tested for VZV DNA by PCR and anti-VZV IgG antibody and were positive for either or ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Chicken Pox published 3 March 2008:

Diphtheria, tetanus, and varicella immunity in health care workers in neonatal units.   Am J Infect Control, 36(2): 142-7.

BACKGROUND: Susceptible health care workers are at risk of acquiring and transmitting vaccine-preventable diseases to or from patients. The objective of this study was to assess antibody levels against diphtheria, tetanus, and varicella in healthcare workers. METHODS: Antibody levels against diphtheria, tetanus, and varicella were measured in health care professionals in 2 neonatal units at the Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS: Between September and November 2002, 215 of 222 ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Chicken Pox published 29 February 2008:

Varicella with stridor: think group A streptococcal epiglottitis.   J Paediatr Child Health, 44(3): 149-51.

Bacterial superinfection complicating varicella is not uncommon, but airway complications are rare. We report a case of varicella in a 2-year-old boy complicated by life-threatening stridor secondary to group A streptococcal epiglottitis. [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Chicken Pox published 26 February 2008:

Egress of light particles among filopodia on the surface of Varicella-Zoster virus-infected cells.   J Virol, 82(6): 2821-35.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is renowned for its very low titer when grown in cultured cells. There remains no single explanation for the low infectivity. In this study, viral particles on the surfaces of infected cells were examined by several imaging technologies. Few surface particles were detected at 48 h postinfection (hpi), but numerous particles were observed at 72 and 96 hpi. At 72 hpi, 75% of the particles resembled light (L) particles, i.e., envelopes without capsids. By 96 hpi, 85% ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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