Varicella Zoster Virus in Solid Organ Transplantation

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is an exclusively human virus that exposure either through direct contact with a skin lesion or through airborne spread from respiratory droplets leads to acute varicella or “chickenpox” (1,2). More than 90% of adults in the United States acquired the infection in childhood; in recent years most children and many young adults have been vaccinated with the live virus vaccine (1,3). The incubation time after primary exposure is approximately 10–21 days. Primary varicella typically presents with fever, constitutional symptoms and a vesicular, pruritic, widely disseminated rash that primarily involves the trunk and face (4); symptoms usually resolve within 7–10 days.