Herpes zoster in infancy occurs very rarely. And it may be the primary clinical manifestation of reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus infection acquired transplacentally during intrauterine life.
We report a case of herpes zoster in right T2 dermatome in a normal 3-month-old boy. The patient had no history of chickenpox and varicella vaccination. And his mother did not recall herself varicella infection, though she was exposured to
chickenpox
patient at 7 months of pregnancy. Laboratory findings demonstrated that varicella-zoster Ig-G and Ig-M antibodies were 0.94, 0.12 respectively ( EIA method, negative, <0.8; positive, >1.0) at the second day of vesicular eruption. Fourteen days
after
vdesicular developing, the Ig-G and Ig-M titers were rising to 1.92, and 0.47 resepectively. His mother's varicella-zoster Ig-G and Ig-M antibodies were 2.64, 0.14 respectively. The baby received acyclovir treatment and the skin lesions healed
rapidly
without sequela.
In the case, although the cause was unclear whether it was a mother-child infection, the patient was suspected subclinical intrauterine varicella-zoster virus infection during pregnancy.
(Kor J Dermatol 1996;34(3) : 476~479)
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