Risk Factors and Outcome of Varicella-Zoster Virus Pneumonia in Pregnant Women

To determine the factors associated with an increased risk of developing varicella-zoster virus (VZV) pneumonia during pregnancy, a case-control analysis was done in which 18 pregnant women with VZV pneumonia were compared with 72 matched control subjects. VZV infection was identified clinically, an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 2002-02, Vol.185 (4), p.422-427
Main Authors: Harger, James H., Ernest, Joseph M., Thurnau, Gary R., Moawad, Atef, Momirova, Valerija, Landon, Mark B., Paul, Richard, Miodovnik, Menachem, Dombrowski, Mitchell, Sibai, Baha, Van Dorsten, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acyclovir - therapeutic use
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Chickenpox
Chickenpox - diagnosis
Chickenpox - drug therapy
Chickenpox - etiology
Dyspnea
Exanthema
Female
Gestational age
Human viral diseases
Humans
Infections
Infectious diseases
Lesions
Major Articles
Medical sciences
Pneumonia
Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis
Pneumonia, Viral - drug therapy
Pneumonia, Viral - etiology
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - diagnosis
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - drug therapy
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - etiology
Risk Factors
Smoking - adverse effects
Varicella-zoster virus
Viral diseases
Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases
Viral pneumonia
Women
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Summary:To determine the factors associated with an increased risk of developing varicella-zoster virus (VZV) pneumonia during pregnancy, a case-control analysis was done in which 18 pregnant women with VZV pneumonia were compared with 72 matched control subjects. VZV infection was identified clinically, and VZV pneumonia was diagnosed by dyspnea and findings on chest radiographs. Of 347 pregnant women with VZV infection, 18 (5.2%) had pneumonia treated with acyclovir, and none died. Mean gestational age at rash onset was 25.8 ± 8.8 weeks for patients with pneumonia and 17.7 ± 10.3 weeks for control subjects, which was not significant in the multivariable model. Women with VZV pneumonia were significantly more likely to be current smokers (odds ratio [OR], 5.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-16.7) and to have ⩾100 skin lesions (OR, 15.9; 95% CI, 1.9-130.2). Pregnant women with VZV infection may be more likely to develop varicella pneumonia if they are smokers or manifest ⩾100 skin lesions.
ISSN:0022-1899
1573-6613
1537-6613
DOI:10.1086/338832