Serologic and Virus-Isolation Studies of Patients with Varicella or Herpes-Zoster Infection

VARICELLA and herpes zoster are diseases with very different clinical manifestations and age distribution. However, the causative agents of the two syndromes have been shown to be indistinguishable morphologically, antigenically and biologically.1 2 3 The basis for the great difference in response to the same virus has not been established although there has been much speculation. The prevalent hypothesis4 is that varicella is the usual response to primary infection whereas herpes zoster is the manifestation of a recrudescent infection in a person with residual antibody persisting from previous varicella. This concept is supported by the observation that varicella occurs principally in children . . .