Treatment of chickenpox in immunocompromised children.

In Hungary since 1981, 98 immunocompromised children have been treated with intravenous acyclovir for varicella zoster virus infections. They were treated in an open study or a double-blind study. Results of both are discussed briefly. Overall, five of 74 patients with varicella died, whereas all 24 patients with herpes zoster recovered. Treatment failures occurred in patients in whom treatment started late and in those with severe lymphocytopenia. In some children, varicella zoster virus-specific antibodies failed to develop by the end of treatment, and a proportion of these suffered recurrent episodes of varicella.