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Clinical and Virologic Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Infection

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Clinical and Molecular Aspects of Neurotropic Virus Infection

Part of the book series: Developments in Medical Virology ((DIMV,volume 5))

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Abstract

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), a member of the family of human herpesviruses, causes chickenpox (varicella) in childhood, becomes latent in dorsal root ganglia and reactivates decades later to produce shingles (zoster) in adults. Since the development of a vaccine for measles, chickenpox has replaced measles as the most common childhood disease in most of the world. Except in immunocompromised individuals, chickenpox is not a disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. On the other hand, disease resulting from VZV reactivation is a clinical problem of considerable magnitude. Furthermore, zoster and its attendant complications of postherpetic neuralgia, encephalitis and granulomatous arteritis not only are more frequent in the elderly population, but also the number of cases is likely to rise as the aged population increases.

The ability of VZV to grow only in human and primate cells, and the lack of an animal model for chickenpox or zoster have limited studies on the pathogenesis of VZV. However, the use of recombinant DNA technology has now led to the detection of VZV in normal human dorsal root ganglia and beginning analyses of the physical state of VZV during latency. Moreover, the entire VZV genome has been sequenced. These recent advances have allowed studies of VAV gene expression to proceed in concert with analyses of VAV latency, persistence system tissue and to mononuclear cells from normal humans and humans with chickenpox, zoster and posterpetic neuralgia has provided intriguing clues to the possible mechanisms of VAV pathogenesis. This chapter highlights the neurological complications of VAV followed by a review of the molecular biology of VZV, including the use of an in vitro transcription-translation system developed in out laboratory to study VZV gene expression. The chapter concludes with a discussion of out current understanding of pathogenesis based on combined clinical and molecular studies of the neurobiology of VZV.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, 80262, USA

    Abbas Vafai & Donald H. Gilden

  2. Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, 80262, USA

    Abbas Vafai

  3. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Zofia Wroblewska

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  1. Abbas Vafai
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  2. Donald H. Gilden
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  3. Zofia Wroblewska
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO, 80262, USA

    Donald H. Gilden M.D. (Professor and Chairman) (Professor and Chairman)

  2. Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, 60611, USA

    Howard L. Lipton M.D. (Professor and Acting Chairman) (Professor and Acting Chairman)

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Vafai, A., Gilden, D.H., Wroblewska, Z. (1989). Clinical and Virologic Aspects of Varicella-Zoster Virus Infection. In: Gilden, D.H., Lipton, H.L. (eds) Clinical and Molecular Aspects of Neurotropic Virus Infection. Developments in Medical Virology, vol 5. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1675-6_14

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