Varicella and Cortisone
Keyword(s):
The Past
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In the past 2 years we have seen 2 patients at the Children's Medical Center, who, while receiving cortisone therapy, developed varicella and died following a state of shock within a few days after the appearance of the vesicles. Post-mortem examinations of these patients revealed hemorrhagic vesicles throughout all viscera. In 1 case the virus of varicella was grown from vesicle fluid, heart blood, and lung. Since fatalities from varicella in childhood are so rarely encountered, even by physicians with vast experience in the field of infectious diseases, and since the clinical course of the infection in these two patients was so fulminating, the possible relationship of cortisone administration was raised.