Disseminated varicella infection due to the vaccine strain of varicella-zoster virus, in a patient with a novel deficiency in natural killer T cells

O Levy, JS Orange, P Hibberd… - The Journal of …, 2003 - academic.oup.com
O Levy, JS Orange, P Hibberd, S Steinberg, P LaRussa, A Weinberg, SB Wilson, A Shaulov…
The Journal of infectious diseases, 2003academic.oup.com
An 11-year-old girl presented with a papulovesicular rash and severe respiratory distress 5
weeks after receiving varicella vaccine. Restriction fragment length–polymorphism analysis
of virus isolated from an endotracheal-tube aspirate and from bronchoalveolar lavage
revealed that this patient's illness was due to the Oka vaccine strain of varicella. An
extensive immunologic analysis failed to identify a known diagnostic entity to explain her
susceptibility to this attenuated vaccine strain. Analysis of her lymphocytes on separate …
Abstract
An 11-year-old girl presented with a papulovesicular rash and severe respiratory distress 5 weeks after receiving varicella vaccine. Restriction fragment length–polymorphism analysis of virus isolated from an endotracheal-tube aspirate and from bronchoalveolar lavage revealed that this patient’s illness was due to the Oka vaccine strain of varicella. An extensive immunologic analysis failed to identify a known diagnostic entity to explain her susceptibility to this attenuated vaccine strain. Analysis of her lymphocytes on separate occasions, months after recovery from her illness, revealed a profound deficiency of natural killer T (NKT) cells and of NKT-cell activity, suggesting that NKT cells contribute to host defense against varicella virus
Oxford University Press