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Ramachandran P, Grose C. Serious neurological adverse events in immunocompetent children and adolescents caused by viral reactivation in the years following varicella vaccination. Rev Med Virol 2024; 34:e2538. [PMID: 38658176 PMCID: PMC11170866 DOI: 10.1002/rmv.2538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Serious adverse events following vaccination include medical complications that require hospitalisation. The live varicella vaccine that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in 1995 has an excellent safety record. Since the vaccine is a live virus, adverse events are more common in immunocompromised children who are vaccinated inadvertently. This review includes only serious adverse events in children considered to be immunocompetent. The serious adverse event called varicella vaccine meningitis was first reported in a hospitalised immunocompetent child in 2008. When we carried out a literature search, we found 15 cases of immunocompetent children and adolescents with varicella vaccine meningitis; the median age was 11 years. Eight of the children had received two varicella vaccinations. Most of the children also had a concomitant herpes zoster rash, although three did not. The children lived in the United States, Greece, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan. During our literature search, we found five additional cases of serious neurological events in immunocompetent children; these included 4 cases of progressive herpes zoster and one case of acute retinitis. Pulses of enteral corticosteroids as well as a lack of herpes simplex virus antibody may be risk factors for reactivation in immunocompetent children. All 20 children with adverse events were treated with acyclovir and recovered; 19 were hospitalised and one child was managed as an outpatient. Even though the number of neurological adverse events remains exceedingly low following varicella vaccination, we recommend documentation of those caused by the vaccine virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashanth Ramachandran
- Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne; Department of Neurology, Royal Melbourne Hospital; and Department of Neurology, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Charles Grose
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Virology Laboratory, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States
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Meningitis without Rash after Reactivation of Varicella Vaccine Strain in a 12-Year-Old Immunocompetent Boy. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:vaccines11020309. [PMID: 36851187 PMCID: PMC9964174 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11020309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Acute neurologic complications from Varicella-Zoster-Virus reactivation occur in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. In this report, we describe a case of a previously healthy immunocompetent boy who had received two doses of varicella vaccine at 1 and 4 years. At the age of 12 he developed acute aseptic meningitis caused by vaccine-type varicella-zoster-virus without concomitant skin eruptions. VZV-vaccine strain DNA was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid. The patient made a full recovery after receiving intravenous acyclovir therapy. This disease course documents another case of a VZV vaccine-associated meningitis without development of a rash, i.e., a form of VZV infection manifesting as "zoster sine herpete".
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Baba K, Baba T, Ogra PL, Okuno T. Overlapping Signs and Symptoms Between Recurrent Varicella and Pityriasis rosea Gibert. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2022; 41:696-701. [PMID: 35763688 DOI: 10.1097/inf.0000000000003601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pityriasis rosea Gibert (PRG) has features similar to those of common infectious childhood diseases, suggesting a viral cause, but no agent has been identified to date. We describe 4 children with PRG and 2 with recurrent varicella who were studied using photochronography, virology and immunology. METHODS The 6 patients with skin rashes visited our pediatric clinic from April 2012 to May 2016. Photographs of their skin lesions were taken; blood, skin lesions, and/or nasal lavage samples were collected to detect varicella-zoster virus (VZV) DNA and antibodies; and skin tests were carried out to measure cell-mediated immunity to VZV. RESULTS Herald patches were confirmed in 2 of 4 PRG patients. No specimen cultures were positive for infectious VZV. However, VZV-DNA was detected in skin lesions of 3 PRG patients. During the acute phase, 5 patients had IgG antibodies to VZV, and skin-test reactions were positive in 5 patients. CONCLUSIONS IgG antibody titers to VZV at rash onset were high, suggesting that they were already rising at the appearance of the rash and that reinfection with VZV must have occurred during the prodromal stage or several weeks before rash appearance in PRG patients whose immunity had declined below the threshold. Our study suggests a new pathogenesis of PRG that might help to address incongruities of past theories on PRG sites of viral entry and replication, incubation period and variations in the clinical course of PRG from prodrome to healing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koichi Baba
- From the BABA Pediatric Clinic, Kadoma, Japan
| | - Tomoko Baba
- From the BABA Pediatric Clinic, Kadoma, Japan
| | - Pearay L Ogra
- Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York
| | - Toshiomi Okuno
- Department of Microbiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan
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Adducchio S, Reyes I, Chikkannaiah M, Rasch M, Kumar G. Bilateral Ptosis, Zosteriform Rash and Flaccid Bladder in a 10-Year-old boy. Child Neurol Open 2022; 9:2329048X221079429. [PMID: 35174255 PMCID: PMC8841934 DOI: 10.1177/2329048x221079429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We present a case report of a 10-year-old completely immunized boy presenting with a 2-week history of bilateral eyelid drooping, fatigue followed by bladder and bowel paralysis. This was followed by the appearance of a vesicular painful and itchy rash which directed further diagnosis and treatment as it was consistent with a varicella reactivation rash. This case is a very important addition to the current body of literature on varicella-related neurological complications. It outlines that varicella reactivation can present in completely vaccinated, immunocompetent young children as a neurological syndrome affecting the autonomic nervous system primarily and the rash can occur a few weeks later after presentation of the neurological symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Irma Reyes
- Dayton Children’s Hospital, Dayton, Ohio, USA
- Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio
| | - Mahesh Chikkannaiah
- Dayton Children’s Hospital, Dayton, Ohio, USA
- Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio
| | - Matthew Rasch
- Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio
| | - Gogi Kumar
- Dayton Children’s Hospital, Dayton, Ohio, USA
- Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio
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Joseph SK, M A A, Thomas S, Nair SC. Nanomedicine as a future therapeutic approach for treating meningitis. J Drug Deliv Sci Technol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jddst.2021.102968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Meningitis Caused by the Live Varicella Vaccine Virus: Metagenomic Next Generation Sequencing, Immunology Exome Sequencing and Cytokine Multiplex Profiling. Viruses 2021; 13:v13112286. [PMID: 34835092 PMCID: PMC8620440 DOI: 10.3390/v13112286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Varicella vaccine meningitis is an uncommon delayed adverse event of vaccination. Varicella vaccine meningitis has been diagnosed in 12 children, of whom 3 were immunocompromised. We now report two additional cases of vaccine meningitis in twice-immunized immunocompetent children and we perform further testing on a prior third case. We used three methods to diagnose or investigate cases of varicella vaccine meningitis, none of which have been used previously on this disease. These include metagenomic next-generation sequencing and cytokine multiplex profiling of cerebrospinal fluid and immunology exome analysis of white blood cells. In one new case, the diagnosis was confirmed by metagenomic next-generation sequencing of cerebrospinal fluid. Both varicella vaccine virus and human herpesvirus 7 DNA were detected. We performed cytokine multiplex profiling on the cerebrospinal fluid of two cases and found ten elevated biomarkers: interferon gamma, interleukins IL-1RA, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17F, chemokines CXCL-9, CXCL-10, CCL-2, and G-CSF. In a second new case, we performed immunology exome sequencing on a panel of 356 genes, but no errors were found. After a review of all 14 cases, we concluded that (i) there is no common explanation for this adverse event, but (ii) ingestion of an oral corticosteroid burst 3–4 weeks before onset of vaccine meningitis may be a risk factor in some cases.
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Kang DH, Kwak BO, Park AY, Kim HW. Clinical Manifestations of Herpes Zoster Associated with Complications in Children. CHILDREN-BASEL 2021; 8:children8100845. [PMID: 34682110 PMCID: PMC8534401 DOI: 10.3390/children8100845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Herpes zoster (HZ) is caused by latent varicella-zoster virus (VZV) reactivation when VZV-specific cell-mediated immunity declines. Information on HZ in children is limited. Therefore, we retrospectively investigated HZ's clinical course and complications in children. We extracted the outpatient and hospitalization medical records of pediatric patients (<19 years) primarily diagnosed with HZ (ICD-10 B02 code) between January 2010 and November 2020. HZ was defined as a typical unilateral dermatomal vesicular rash where HZ was the treating physician's primary diagnosis. Recognized HZ complications included combined bacterial skin infection, ophthalmic zoster, zoster oticus without facial paralysis, meningitis, and PHN. We identified 602 HZ cases, among which 54 developed HZ complications and were included in our analysis. The median age was 14.7 years, most patients were aged ≥13 years (42, 79%), and none were aged <4 years. Fifty-three were immunocompetent, and only one had systemic lupus erythematosus. The most frequent complication was zoster ophthalmicus (n = 26, 48%). HZ complications were also observed in immunocompetent or vaccinated children exhibiting a head or neck rash before and after VZV immunization. Current VZV vaccination programs may be insufficient in preventing HZ complications. Therefore, close varicella and HZ burden monitoring and the establishment of effective VZV vaccination programs are imperative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Ha Kang
- Department of Pediatrics, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang 14068, Korea
| | - Byung Ok Kwak
- Department of Pediatrics, Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul 07441, Korea
| | - A Young Park
- Department of Pediatrics, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang 14068, Korea
| | - Han Wool Kim
- Department of Pediatrics, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang 14068, Korea
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Grose C, Shaban A, Fullerton HJ. Common Features Between Stroke Following Varicella in Children and Stroke Following Herpes Zoster in Adults : Varicella-Zoster Virus in Trigeminal Ganglion. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol 2021; 438:247-272. [PMID: 34224015 DOI: 10.1007/82_2021_236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The cerebral arteries are innervated by afferent fibers from the trigeminal ganglia. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) frequently resides in the trigeminal ganglion. Reports of arterial ischemic stroke due to VZV cerebral vasculopathy in adults after herpes zoster have been described for decades. Reports of arterial ischemic stroke due to post-varicella cerebral arteriopathy in children have also been described for decades. One rationale for this review has been post-licensure studies that have shown an apparent protective effect from stroke in both adults who have received live zoster vaccine and children who have received live varicella vaccine. In this review, we define common features between stroke following varicella in children and stroke following herpes zoster in adults. The trigeminal ganglion and to a lesser extent the superior cervical ganglion are central to the stroke pathogenesis pathway because afferent fibers from these two ganglia provide the circuitry by which the virus can travel to the anterior and posterior circulations of the brain. Based on studies in pseudorabies virus (PRV) models, it is likely that VZV is carried to the cerebral arteries on a kinesin motor via gE, gI and the homolog of PRV US9. The gE product is an essential VZV protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Grose
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Virology Laboratory, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
- University Hospital/Room BT2001, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
| | - Amir Shaban
- Division of Cerebrovascular Diseases, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Heather J Fullerton
- Division of Child Neurology and Pediatric Brain Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
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Wolff E, Widgren K, Scalia Tomba G, Roth A, Lep T, Andersson S. Cost-effectiveness of varicella and herpes zoster vaccination in Sweden: An economic evaluation using a dynamic transmission model. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0251644. [PMID: 33984060 PMCID: PMC8118323 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Comprehensive cost-effectiveness analyses of introducing varicella and/or herpes zoster vaccination in the Swedish national vaccination programme. DESIGN Cost-effectiveness analyses based on epidemiological results from a specifically developed transmission model. SETTING National vaccination programme in Sweden, over an 85- or 20-year time horizon depending on the vaccination strategy. PARTICIPANTS Hypothetical cohorts of people aged 12 months and 65-years at baseline. INTERVENTIONS Four alternative vaccination strategies; 1, not to vaccinate; 2, varicella vaccination with one dose of the live attenuated vaccine at age 12 months and a second dose at age 18 months; 3, herpes zoster vaccination with one dose of the live attenuated vaccine at 65 years of age; and 4, both vaccine against varicella and herpes zoster with the before-mentioned strategies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Accumulated cost and quality-adjusted life years (QALY) for each strategy, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER). RESULTS It would be cost-effective to vaccinate against varicella (dominant), but not to vaccinate against herpes zoster (ICER of EUR 200,000), assuming a cost-effectiveness threshold of EUR 50,000 per QALY. The incremental analysis between varicella vaccination only and the combined programme results in a cost per gained QALY of almost EUR 1.6 million. CONCLUSIONS The results from this study are central components for policy-relevant decision-making, and suggest that it was cost-effective to introduce varicella vaccination in Sweden, whereas herpes zoster vaccination with the live attenuated vaccine for the elderly was not cost-effective-the health effects of the latter vaccination cannot be considered reasonable in relation to its costs. Future observational and surveillance studies are needed to make reasonable predictions on how boosting affects the herpes zoster incidence in the population, and thus the cost-effectiveness of a vaccination programme against varicella. Also, the link between herpes zoster and sequelae need to be studied in more detail to include it suitably in health economic evaluations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen Wolff
- Department of Public Health Analysis and Data Management, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden
- School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
- * E-mail:
| | - Katarina Widgren
- Department of Public Health Analysis and Data Management, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden
- Department of Medicine, Huddinge C2:94, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Adam Roth
- Institution for Translational Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Tiia Lep
- Department of Public Health Analysis and Data Management, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden
| | - Sören Andersson
- Department of Public Health Analysis and Data Management, Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden
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Corticosteroids Contribute to Serious Adverse Events Following Live Attenuated Varicella Vaccination and Live Attenuated Zoster Vaccination. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:vaccines9010023. [PMID: 33418856 PMCID: PMC7825138 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9010023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Revised: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Corticosteroids, when given in high dosages, have long been recognized as a risk factor for severe infection with wild-type varicella-zoster virus in both children and adults. The goal of this review is to assess the degree to which both low-dosage and high-dosage corticosteroids contribute to serious adverse events (SAEs) following live varicella vaccination and live zoster vaccination. To this end, we examined multiple published reports of SAEs following varicella vaccination (VarivaxTM) and zoster vaccination (ZostavaxTM). We observed that five of eight viral SAEs following varicella vaccination, including two deaths, occurred in children receiving corticosteroids, while one of three fatal viral SAEs following live zoster vaccination occurred in an adult being treated with low-dosage prednisone. The latter death after live zoster vaccination occurred in a 70 year-old man with rheumatoid arthritis, being treated with prednisone 10 mg daily. Thus, corticosteroids contributed to more severe infectious complications in subjects immunized with each of the two live virus vaccines. Further, when we surveyed the rheumatology literature as well as individual case reports, we documented examples where daily dosages of 7.5–20 mg prednisone were associated with increased rates of severe wild-type varicella-zoster virus infections in children and adults.
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Heusel EH, Grose C. Twelve Children with Varicella Vaccine Meningitis: Neuropathogenesis of Reactivated Live Attenuated Varicella Vaccine Virus. Viruses 2020; 12:v12101078. [PMID: 32992805 PMCID: PMC7599892 DOI: 10.3390/v12101078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2020] [Revised: 09/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Varicella vaccine is a live attenuated varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Like its parental strain called VZV pOka, the vaccine virus vOka retains some neurotropic properties. To better understand vOka neuropathogenesis, we reassessed 12 published cases of vOka meningitis that occurred in once-immunized and twice-immunized children, all of whom had bouts of herpes zoster preceding the central nervous system infection. Eight of the 12 meningitis cases occurred in children who had received only one immunization. There was no pattern to the time interval between varicella vaccination and the onset of herpes zoster with meningitis. Four of the meningitis cases occurred in children who had received two immunizations. Since all four children were 14 years old when meningitis was diagnosed, there was a strong pattern to the interval between the first vaccination at age 1 year and onset of meningitis, namely, 13 years. Knowledge of pathogenesis requires knowledge of the location of herpes zoster; the majority of dermatomal rashes occurred at sites of primary immunization on the arm or thigh, while herpes zoster ophthalmicus was uncommon. Based on this literature review, currently there is no consensus as to the cause of varicella vaccine meningitis in twice-immunized children.
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