To the Editor: Cunningham and colleagues discussed the rationale for using a live attenuated vaccine against varicella zoster virus (VZV) in preventing herpes zoster (HZ) in an older population.1 They also noted the difficulties in using a live vaccine in immunocompromised adults.
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- Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT.
Correspondence: sanjaya.senanayake@act.gov.au
- 1. Cunningham AL, Breuer J, Dwyer DE, et al. The prevention and management of herpes zoster. Med J Aust 2008; 188: 171-176. <MJA full text>
- 2. Levine MJ, Ellison MC, Zerbe GO, et al. Comparison of a live attenuated and an inactivated varicella vaccine to boost the varicella-specific immune response in seropositive people 55 years of age and older. Vaccine 2000; 18: 2915-2920.
- 3. Sperber SJ, Smith BV, Hayden FG. Serologic response and reactogenicity to booster immunization of healthy seropositive adults with live or inactivated varicella vaccine. Antiviral Res 1992; 17: 213-222.
- 4. Senanayake SN. Varicella vaccine — should we be chicken about zoster? Touch Briefings: a comprehensive resource for the health and pharmaceutical sector. European Infectious Disease 2007 — Issue 2: 96-98. http://www.touchbriefings.com/download.cfm?fileID=13843&action=downloadFile (accessed Sept 2008).
- 5. Barton ES, White DW, Cathelyn JS, et al. Herpesvirus latency confers symbiotic protection from bacterial infection. Nature 2007; 447: 326-329.
- 6. Kimberlin DW, Whitley RJ. Varicella-zoster vaccine for the prevention of herpes zoster. N Engl J Med 2007; 356: 1338-1343.
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