Introduction:
To prevent acute or chronic allograft rejection, recipients of kidney
transplants are needed to take immunosuppressive for the rest of their
lives. However, their compromised immune system put them at risk for
opportunistic infections as well1. Infection with the
varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is an unusual in recipients of kidney
transplants at a frequency rate from 1% to 11%, but the severity is
more significant in transplant patients compared to the overall
population 2, 3. Fever and a self-limiting rash on the
skin and occasionally the mucosa may be the present symptoms of
varicella infection. Additionally observed symptoms include headache,
malaise, and appetite loss. The rash starts off as macules, quickly
develops into papules and then goes through a vesicular stage and crusts
over the lesions. After one to two weeks, crusts flake off4. Disseminated herpes zoster (HZ) in kidney
transplant recipients can result in a very high overall mortality rate
of up to 30% 5.
Here we describe a 23-year-old male patient with a history renal
transplant who presented to the emergency department with complaint of
high grade fever, chills and generalized rash for 5 days.