Indian Journal of Respiratory Care

IJRC Email      Register      Login

VOLUME 11 , ISSUE 3 ( July-September, 2022 ) > List of Articles

CASE REPORT

Rash with Atypical Pneumonia: Varicella Pneumonia in a Young Immunocompetent Male

Saqib Hyder Shah, Syed Mudasir Qadri, Ajaz Nabi Koul, Farhana Siraj Bagdadi, Suhail Mantoo, Arif Rehman Sheikh, Zubair Ahmad Najar, Sajad Ahmad Bhat

Keywords : Acyclovir, atypical pneumonia, chickenpox, herpes zoster, varicella pneumonia

Citation Information : Shah SH, Qadri SM, Koul AN, Bagdadi FS, Mantoo S, Sheikh AR, Najar ZA, Bhat SA. Rash with Atypical Pneumonia: Varicella Pneumonia in a Young Immunocompetent Male. Indian J Respir Care 2022; 11 (3):274-276.

DOI: 10.4103/ijrc.ijrc_70_22

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Published Online: 01-12-2022

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2022; Indian Journal of Respiratory Care.


Abstract

Varicella pneumonia is a serious complication of varicella infection. It occurs more often in adults than in children, although it is now infrequently seen since the introduction of the chickenpox vaccines. In immunocompetent adults, varicella pneumonia has a reported incidence of about 1 in 400 cases of varicella infection and it also carries significant mortality. Here, we report a case of varicella pneumonia in a young male who was immunocompetent and had no comorbidities. This case teaches us to be always careful and thorough with our clinical assessment and to think about the alternative etiologies for the cause of atypical pneumonia even during the times of the COVID-19 pandemic and not get swayed by the sheer numbers of coronavirus infections.


HTML PDF Share
  1. Marin M, Watson TL, Chaves SS, Civen R, Watson BM, Zhang JX, et al. Varicella among adults: data from an active surveillance project, 1995-2005. J Infect Dis 2008;197 Suppl 2:S94-100.
  2. Chaves SS, Lopez AS, Watson TL, Civen R, Watson B, Mascola L, et al. Varicella in infants after implementation of the US varicella vaccination program. Pediatrics 2011;128:1071-7.
  3. Guess HA, Broughton DD, Melton LJ 3rd, Kurland LT. Population-based studies of varicella complications. Pediatrics 1986;78:723-7.
  4. Weber DM, Pellecchia JA. Varicella pneumonia: Study of prevalence in adult men. JAMA 1965;192:572-3.
  5. Hockberger RS, Rothstein RJ. Varicella pneumonia in adults: A spectrum of disease. Ann Emerg Med 1986;15:931-4.
  6. Triebwasser JH, Harris RE, Bryant RE, Rhoades ER. Varicella pneumonia in adults. Report of seven cases and a review of literature. Medicine (Baltimore) 1967;46:409-23.
  7. Schlossberg D, Littman M. Varicella pneumonia. Arch Intern Med 1988;148:1630-2.
  8. Mueller NH, Gilden DH, Cohrs RJ, Mahalingam R, Nagel MA. Varicella zoster virus infection: Clinical features, molecular pathogenesis of disease, and latency. Neurol Clin 2008;26:675-97.
  9. Kennedy PG, Gershon AA. Clinical features of varicella-zoster virus infection. Viruses 2018;10:609.
  10. Lopez A, Harrington T, Marin M. Pinkbook: Varicella | CDC. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/varicella.html. [Last accessed on 2022 Feb 26].
  11. Marin M, Leung J, Lopez AS, Shepersky L, Schmid DS, Gershon AA. Communicability of varicella before rash onset: A literature review. Epidemiol Infect 2021;149:e131.
  12. Feldman S. Varicella-zoster virus pneumonitis. Chest 1994;106:22S-7S.
  13. Haake DA, Zakowski PC, Haake DL, Bryson YJ. Early treatment with acyclovir for varicella pneumonia in otherwise healthy adults: Retrospective controlled study and review. Rev Infect Dis 1990;12:788-98.
  14. Mer M, Richards GA. Corticosteroids in life-threatening varicella pneumonia. Chest 1998;114:426-31.
  15. Fairley CK, Miller E. Varicella-zoster virus epidemiology – A changing scene? J Infect Dis 1996;174 Suppl 3:S314-9.
  16. Ellis ME, Neal KR, Webb AK. Is smoking a risk factor for pneumonia in adults with chickenpox? Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1987;294:1002.
  17. Esmonde TF, Herdman G, Anderson G. Chickenpox pneumonia: An association with pregnancy. Thorax 1989;44:812-5.
  18. Fleisher G, Henry W, McSorley M, Arbeter A, Plotkin S. Life-threatening complications of varicella. Am J Dis Child 1981;135:896-9.
  19. Mohsen AH, McKendrick M. Varicella pneumonia in adults. Eur Respir J 2003;21:886-91.
  20. Wilkins EG, Leen CL, McKendrick MW, Carrington D. Management of chickenpox in the adult. A review prepared for the UK Advisory Group on Chickenpox on behalf of the British Society for the Study of Infection. J Infect 1998;36 Suppl 1:49-58.
  21. Adhami N, Arabi Y, Raees A, Al-Shimemeri A, Ur-Rahman M, Memish ZA. Effect of corticosteroids on adult varicella pneumonia: Cohort study and literature review. Respirology 2006;11:437-41.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.