VARICELLA-ZOSTER VIRUS

MICROBIOLOGY AND PATHOGENESIS

VZV—a double-stranded DNA virus in the family Herpesviridae—has a pathogenic cycle similar to that of HSV. Primary infection is transmitted by the respiratory route. The virus replicates and causes viremia, which is reflected by the diffuse and scattered skin lesions in varicella; it then establishes latency in the dorsal root ganglia and can reactivate through unknown mechanisms at a later time.

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