Infantile Herpes Zoster

Abstract

A rare occurrence of herpes zoster is reported in a prematurely born 7-month-old infant without signs of previous varicella. The clinical picture was characteristic and the course uneventful. There were no known factors precipitating herpes zoster, but a prolonged respiratory infection preceding the appearance of the rash may be significant Theoretically, appendectomy at the age of 6 weeks might be involved in disturbance of the development of immunological capacity. The levels of immunoglobulins were normal, but these did not increase at a normal rate during the next 6 months. The blood lymphocyte and granulocyte counts were normal, the number of monocytes was increased. The titer of complement-fixing (CF) antibodies to varicella-zoster virus was at the beginning 4 and one week later 256. All the CF antibody resided in the 7S fraction of immunoglobulins. Varicella-zoster specific precipitating antibodies were also present during the active phase.