Varicella Zoster Virus

Emerging and Re-emerging Infections in Children

“…Although vaccination has a relatively high rate of failure of seroconversion, breakthrough cases are infrequent and tend to be associated with more mild disease. 29 , 30 Varicella is a highly contagious illness, like measles, with both droplet and aerosol spread. Attack rates for unvaccinated close contacts are estimated to be around 70%.…”

“…Pruritic lesions appear in crops, and patients will typically have several hundred lesions in various stages. 30 The number of lesions is often significantly lower in vaccinated breakthrough cases. 32 …”

“…Those who are significantly immunocompromised or with severe disease should receive intravenous acyclovir. 30 …”

“…Case fatality is about 1 in 60,000, but may be as high as 36% for the immunocompromised, and up to 30% for infants of infected mothers in the immediate peripartum period, which is why these groups are typically treated prophylactically with immunoglobulin, and if ill, intravenous acyclovir. 30 Acute cerebellar ataxia is one of the more common complications, and while it is typically self-limited, it can result in weeks to months of symptoms.…”

Bilateral facial palsy in an adult with chickenpox

“…Possible complications include secondary bacterial skin infections, meningitis, encephalitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, transverse myelitis, pneumonia, hepatitis, myocarditis, hemorrhagic varicella, and uveitis. 1 Unilateral facial nerve palsy related to primary VZV infection, without other central nervous system (CNS) complications, is few and far between with literature regarding it proving scarce. [2][3][4][5] Here, we report an extremely rare case of bilateral facial nerve palsy following chickenpox in an adult.…”