MM 427-430; ID 952-962
VARICELLA
DISEASE NAMES:
Varicella
Chickenpox
OVERVIEW:
Chickenpox is a highly contagious,
acute exanthematous disease that is most common in childhood. It is characterized
by successive crops of lesions that progress rapidly from macules and papules
to vesicles, pustules and crusts. In children, chickenpox is generally
a mild disease with few complications. When acquired by adults, however,
it is often associated with high fever, severe constitutional symptoms
and pulmonary involvement. There is a mild prodrome.
ETIOLOGICAL AGENT:
Human herpesvirus 3 (Varicella-zoster
virus)
PATHOGENESIS:
Man is the only known host.
The virus is spread from person to person by droplet inhalation or direct
contact. The initial site of virus replication is unknown but subsequently
there is a viremia with subsequent skin lesions. The early papular lesions
are minute vacuoles surrounded by ballooning degeneration of epithelial
cells within the prickle cell layer of the epidermis. In a few hours edema
fluid accumulates, elevating the stratum corneum to form a clear vesicle,
while multinucleated giant cells, containing eosinophilic intranuclear
inclusions, form among the cells at the edges and base of the lesion. As
the vesicles begin to dry, they become filled with a cloudy, fibrinous
fluid containing leukocytes and desquamated epidermal cells. The final
stages of lesion formation are characterized by crusting along with regeneration
of the epithelial cells.
SYMPTOMOLOGY AND DIAGNOSIS:
This is based on:
1. Mild prodrome (malaise and fever)
2. Lesions
that evolve from small red macules to papules, vesicles, then pustules
that crust. The vesicles are variable in size and
shape. They are filled with straw-colored fluid and are surrounded at the
base by an intense red corona of inflammation. They
lie on, rather than in, the skin.
3. Distribution
of lesions with a central concentration, presenting first and in greatest
abundance on the trunk, then the neck, face
and proximal extremities. Lesions can occur on palms, soles and mucous
membranes.
4. Lesions are painless and pruritic
5. Mild fever (100°F)
6. Presence of multinucleated giant cell with nuclear inclusions
7. Serology
8. Crops of lesions
TREATMENT:
None indicated unless case
is severe, then administer acyclovir (Zovirax).
PREVENTION:
A new improved vaccine (Varivax,
Merck & Co.) was approved in 1995. This is a live attenuated virus
vaccine. A single 0.5 ml dose is given subcutaneously to children between
1-12 years of age. Patients 13 years of age or older should be given a
0.5 ml dose subcutaneously followed by a second 0.5 ml subcutaneous dose
four-eight weeks later. The outer aspect of the upper arm (deltoid) is
the preferred site of injection.
COMPLICATIONS:
1. Reye's
syndrome (fatty liver with encephalopathy) - varicella is the antecedent
event in 20% of the cases of Reye's syndrome,
a condition that has been associated with the administration of salicylates
to children with viral disease. Reye's syndrome
begins with vomiting and a change in sensorium after the skin lesions have
healed. This is followed by signs of hepatic injury,
hypoglycemia and extensive fatty vacuolization of renal tubules and liver.
2. Zoster
(shingles) - peripheral neuritis