Herpes Zoster and Meningitis Resulting From Reactivation of Varicella Vaccine Virus in an Immunocompetent Child
Received 28 August 2008; received in revised form 12 October 2008; accepted 20 October 2008. published online 25 November 2008.
Herpes zoster complicated by meningitis has been mainly reported in immunocompromised patients after reactivation of wild-type varicella-zoster virus. We present one of the first cases of aseptic meningitis after herpes zoster caused by reactivation of vaccine-type varicella-zoster virus in an immunocompetent child. We also highlight the increasing role of both wild-type and vaccine strains of varicella-zoster virus as a cause of viral meningoencephalitis and the use of appropriate laboratory tools to rapidly and accurately identify the virus in order to provide prompt patient care and management.
aDivision of Emergency Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
bDepartments of Pediatrics and Pathology and Clinical Virology Laboratory, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
cThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
dUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
Address for correspondence: Sujit Iyer, MD, Division of Emergency Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4399; 215-590-1961, fax 215-590-4454
Supervising editor: David M. Jaffe, MD
Funding and support: By Annals policy, all authors are required to disclose any and all commercial, financial, and other relationships in any way related to the subject of this article that might create any potential conflict of interest. The authors have stated that no such relationships exist. See the Manuscript Submission Agreement in this issue for examples of specific conflicts covered by this statement.
Publication date: Available online November 22, 2008.
ABSTRACT