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ABSTRACT Alphaherpesvirus reactivation from thoracic sympathetic ganglia (TSG) and transaxonal spread to target organs cause human visceral disease. Yet alphaherpesvirus latency in TSG has not been well characterized. In this study, quantitative PCR detected varicella-zoster virus (VZV), herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), and HSV-2 DNA in 117 fresh TSG obtained postmortem from 15 subjects. VZV DNA was found in 76 (65%) ganglia from all subjects, HSV-1 DNA was found in 5 (4%) ganglia from 3 subjects, and no HSV-2 was found.
Nagel et al. (Thu,) studied this question.