Chickenpox laboratory findings
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Michael Maddaleni, B.S.
Overview
Varicella (chickenpox) used to be very common in the United States before varicella vaccine became available. Health care providers could readily diagnose varicella by doing a clinical assessment. As a result, testing specimens and getting laboratory confirmation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) were not usually needed. However, clinical diagnosis is becoming more challenging because fewer people get varicella. Also, varicella in vaccinated people is often mild and atypical in presentation. Therefore, laboratory confirmation of varicella is becoming increasingly important in routine clinical practice.
Laboratory testing is also recommended to:
- Confirm varicella as the cause of outbreaks
- Establish varicella as a cause of death
- Determine susceptibility to varicella
- Finally, specialized laboratory testing can be used to determine if suspected vaccine-related adverse events were caused by vaccine-strain VZV.