Varicella vaccine protects hematopoietic-cell transplant patients against zoster.(Brief Article)

2002 SEP 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Varicella vaccination can protect patients who receive hematopoietic-cell transplants against zoster, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The reactivation of varicella-zoster virus from latency causes zoster and is common among recipients of hematopoietic-cell transplants," explained Atsuko Hata and colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

The study involved 111 patients who underwent autologous hematopoietic-cell transplant for treatment of Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Patients were randomized to receive live, heat-inactivated varicella vaccine (n=53) or no vaccine (n=58). Vaccines were administered within the 30 days preceding the transplant and at 30, 60, and 90 days post-transplant.

Seven vaccinated patients (13%) and 19 unvaccinated patients (33%) developed zoster (P=0.01). After correcting for two patients who developed zoster before transplantation, the difference in rates remained significant (13% vs. 30%, respectively; p=0.02).

At all time points from 90 days, vaccinated patients exhibited a significantly greater CD4 T-cell response than did unvaccinated patients (90 days, p=0.04; 120 days, p

Side effects, such as induration, erythema, or pain at the inoculation site, occurred ...