Varicella Zoster Virus

The Varicella Zoster Virus system is a qualitative in vitro diagnostic test for identification of Varicella Zoster Virus genome, by Real-Time PCR.

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is an exclusively human virus that leads to acute varicella or “chickenpox”. In recent years most children and many young adults have been vaccinated. Primary varicella typically presents with fever, constitutional symptoms and a vesicular, pruritic, widely disseminated rash that primarily involves the trunk and face. After initial infection, VZV establishes lifelong latency in cranial nerve and dorsal root ganglia, and can reactivate years to decades later as herpes zoster (HZ) or “shingles”. VZV infections can cause systemic infections of the central nervous and respiratory systems in immunologically healthy patients and produce disseminated disease of multiple organ systems in those with impaired immunologic defenses. Laboratory diagnosis is important for distinguishing herpes simplex virus (HSV) from VZV infections, since the clinical presentation of zoster can be confused with the dermal distribution produced by HSV. The most sensitive method for confirming a diagnosis of VZV is the use of Real-Time PCR.

Target:

C-ORF66 region of VZV genome
Internal Control (IC)

Diagnostic samples:

Whole blood EDTA
Plasma EDTA
Vesicular swab

Real-Time PCR instruments:

Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast (ThermoFisher SCIENTIFIC)
StepOnePlus™ Real-Time PCR System (ThermoFisher SCIENTIFIC)
LightCycler® 480 Real-Time PCR System (Roche)
Rotor-Gene Q MDx (RG-Q MDx - QIAGEN)
CFX96 Real-Time PCR Detection System (Bio-Rad)
Versant kPCR AD (Siemens)

DNA Extraction:

Manual Extraction with:

QIAmp DNA mini kit (QIAGEN)

Automatic Extraction with:

EZ1 Advanced XL (QIAGEN)