Varicella
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Basics
Description
- Commonly known as chickenpox
- Also called varicella-zoster virus (VZV)
- Most common in late winter and early spring
- Vaccine has reduced incidence by 85%
- Adults have a 15 times greater risk for death from varicella than children
Etiology
- DNA virus:
- Latency in cranial nerve ganglia, dorsal root ganglia, and autonomic ganglia with periodic reactivation
- Presents as herpes zoster or shingles decades after primary infection
- Virus is transmitted by aerosolized droplets from infected host to the respiratory mucosa of susceptible patient
- Also transmitted by direct contact with skin lesions
- Humans are only known reservoir
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Basics
Description
- Commonly known as chickenpox
- Also called varicella-zoster virus (VZV)
- Most common in late winter and early spring
- Vaccine has reduced incidence by 85%
- Adults have a 15 times greater risk for death from varicella than children
Etiology
- DNA virus:
- Latency in cranial nerve ganglia, dorsal root ganglia, and autonomic ganglia with periodic reactivation
- Presents as herpes zoster or shingles decades after primary infection
- Virus is transmitted by aerosolized droplets from infected host to the respiratory mucosa of susceptible patient
- Also transmitted by direct contact with skin lesions
- Humans are only known reservoir
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