Transmission of chickenpox in a school setting prior to the observed exanthem

Article Abstract:

Varicella (chickenpox), a common viral disease of childhood, is highly contagious. The herpes-type virus can be acquired by contact with the blister-like rash which appears on the skin. Since children are contagious before the onset of the rash, there must be another mode of transmission. It has been suggested varicella virus may also be transmitted by air droplets from the respiratory tracts of infected patients from the end of the incubation period, just before the rash appears, to three days after the rash. Although it is not common, the virus can be isolated from the throats of infected children. Examination of throat cultures has not been successful in fully explaining this mode of transmission. An epidemic of chickenpox in a school setting was used to examine the transmission patterns before the appearance of the rash. The three children of an infected physician were followed after their exposure. The rash appeared in the three 13, 14, and 14 days, respectively, after the rash appeared on their father. Cultures of the nose and throat were performed on the three children starting on day 10 after exposure to two days after the rash appeared. A classmate became infected 17 days after exposure to one the physician's children, who did not have skin eruptions while in school. Throat cultures from the child responsible for the classmate's infection did not detect the varicella virus. Therefore, the virus was transmitted another way or the testing methods were unable to detect the virus in the nose and throat of the child. Out of five classmates, four were able to transmit the infection before the rash developed and one parent admitted to sending the child to school with a few lesions which appeared two days before the full-blown rash. Even when parents made an effort to keep the infected children home, other children still came down with the disease. This study does not fully explain the transmission of varicella before the onset of the rash. It does raise the question of whether it is worth keeping otherwise healthy children home during the period of the rash, when their classmates appear to be exposed to the virus prior to the rash outbreak. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Diseases, Disease transmission, Elementary school students, Pharynx, Throat

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Clinical manifestations of varicella-zoster virus infections in human immunodeficiency virus-infected children

Article Abstract:

Children with HIV infection may have more serious cases of chicken pox, or varicella, than healthy children. Among 27 HIV-infected children being followed, 17 developed chicken pox. Four patients had persistent infections that required antiviral therapy, three patients had recurrences after their initial infection, and 10 of the cases were uncomplicated. Four patients developed shingles, or herpes zoster, and three of these were patients who had uncomplicated chicken pox. The children with persistent chicken pox all had more advanced HIV infection.

Complications and side effects, Physiological aspects, HIV infection in children, Pediatric HIV infections

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Recent Advances in Varicella-Zoster Virus Infection

Article Abstract:

Chronic chickenpox and disseminated varicella infections afflict some AIDS patients, and illustrate the persistence of the varicella-zoster virus in the immune system. The cause of chickenpox and shingles, varicella-zoster virus infection can be prevented with vaccination, and severe varicella infections can be treated with antiviral agents. Herpes zoster infection (shingles) in adults with antibodies against the virus may respond to immunostimulation with the varicella-zoster vaccine.

United States, Health aspects, Care and treatment, Varicella-zoster virus, Chickenpox vaccine, Chickenpox vaccines, Shingles (Disease), Herpes zoster

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