Vaccine Oka varicella-zoster virus genotypes are monomorphic in single vesicles and polymorphic in respiratory tract secretions

Abstract

We previously found that, after immunization with vaccine Oka varicella-zoster virus, virus obtained from a single vesicle were monomorphic, and virus obtained from different individuals were heterogeneous. Here we show that virus obtained from the lungs of a patient were a mixture of vaccine Oka variants. We hypothesize that complications after immunization are unlikely to be caused by expansion of a single, biologically more virulent clone of virus that either preexists in the vaccine or develops after random mutation of different clones. We hypothesize that some clones are more trophic than others for skin. © 2006 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.