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Varicella

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Herpes Zoster: Postherpetic Neuralgia and Other Complications

Abstract

For many years, no one seems to have paid much attention to varicella-zoster virus (VZV); this pathogen seemed not to be taken very seriously. VZV was long known to cause varicella, also known as chickenpox, an anodyne name. How could one take chickenpox seriously in comparison to the already recognized and very serious diseases, the great pox (syphilis) and smallpox? The source of the name “chicken” is lost in history but may refer to the farmyard bird or to the chickpea which varicella’s typical vesicular lesions are said to resemble. Varicella was thought to be an inconsequential disease; it was considered a rite of childhood that everyone experienced, from which they recovered after a few days.

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R01DK093094; Biken Institute of Osaka University

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 630 West 168th St., New York, NY, 10128, USA

    Anne A. Gershon

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  1. Anne A. Gershon
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Correspondence to Anne A. Gershon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Toronto Department of Medicine, TORONTO, Ontario, Canada

    C. Peter N. Watson

  2. College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, New York, USA

    Anne A. Gershon

  3. Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA

    Michael N. Oxman

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Gershon, A.A. (2017). Varicella. In: Watson, C., Gershon, A., Oxman, M. (eds) Herpes Zoster: Postherpetic Neuralgia and Other Complications. Adis, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44348-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44348-5_2

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