TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Chapter 314. Varicella-Zoster Virus Infections A1 - Hambleton, Sophie A2 - Rudolph, Colin D. A2 - Rudolph, Abraham M. A2 - Lister, George E. A2 - First, Lewis R. A2 - Gershon, Anne A. PY - 2011 T2 - Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e AB - The human α-herpesvirus, varicella-zoster virus (VZV), is a highly successful pathogen that has coevolved with its human hosts over millennia. The majority of the world’s population has experienced primary VZV infection as varicella (“chickenpox”), with the acquisition of both lifelong immunity against reinfection and the risk of viral reactivation as zoster (“shingles”). In most children, chickenpox is a mild illness in which viral replication rapidly subsides. However, severe and complicated varicella does occur in previously healthy children and at much higher rates in certain risk groups (eg, immunocompromised persons, adults, newborns). The medical importance of VZV also extends to reactivation disease, which poses a major societal burden of morbidity in the form of postherpetic neuralgia, particularly in elderly individuals. A successful vaccination program against varicella is having profound effects on the epidemiology of VZV in the United States. SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=7030144 ER -