{"title":"[Varicella and herpes zoster. Part 1: virology, epidemiology, clinical picture, laboratory diagnostics].","authors":"Miriam Wittek, Hans Wilhelm Doerr, Regina Allwinn","doi":"10.1007/s00063-010-1061-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), known as one of the eight human herpesviridae, shows a ubiquitous distribution and is the cause for acute exanthema in childhood (chickenpox). VZV is highly infectious, spread by respiratory droplets and direct contact with fluid in vesicles. As a characteristic of the alpha-herpesviridae, VZV establishes latency in the nucleus of the paraspinal cells. Reactivation of VZV (zoster) is possible in all infected persons, but becomes more common with increasing age and a decline of VZV-specific cell-mediated immunity. Immunocompromised patients and older people (> 50 years) have an increased risk for a severe course of disease. The postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), as one of the most common and feared complications, is defined as a neuropathic pain (burning character), which persists for > 6 weeks after onset of disease and needs adequate antiviral and pain treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":18420,"journal":{"name":"Medizinische Klinik","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2010-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1007/s00063-010-1061-3","citationCount":"12","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Medizinische Klinik","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00063-010-1061-3","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2010/5/26 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 12
Abstract
Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), known as one of the eight human herpesviridae, shows a ubiquitous distribution and is the cause for acute exanthema in childhood (chickenpox). VZV is highly infectious, spread by respiratory droplets and direct contact with fluid in vesicles. As a characteristic of the alpha-herpesviridae, VZV establishes latency in the nucleus of the paraspinal cells. Reactivation of VZV (zoster) is possible in all infected persons, but becomes more common with increasing age and a decline of VZV-specific cell-mediated immunity. Immunocompromised patients and older people (> 50 years) have an increased risk for a severe course of disease. The postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), as one of the most common and feared complications, is defined as a neuropathic pain (burning character), which persists for > 6 weeks after onset of disease and needs adequate antiviral and pain treatment.