title: Varicella vaccination in children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome.
abstract: We have studied serological and clinical response to live, attenuated varicella zoster virus (VZV) vaccine (Varilrix, SmithKline Beecham) in 20 patients with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) in remission and 22 normal controls who had no history of varicella and no detectable antibody to VZV. Nephrotic patients included 15 boys and 5 girls, with a mean age of 4.7 years (range 2-11.4 years). The controls were healthy age-matched children (13 girls and 9 boys). Seventeen patients with SSNS (85%) and 19 healthy controls (86%) seroconverted 8 weeks after vaccination. One patient with SSNS had a relapse 20 days after vaccination, and 1 child in the control group had a rash. Two years after vaccination, antibodies to VZV were detected in 12 of 17 responders, 2 of 3 non-responders, and 13 of 22 controls. Within 2 years of vaccination, 3 of the vaccine responder children with SSNS had a mild varicella infection. Two responder and 1 non-responder nephrotic children and 9 controls were lost to long-term follow-up. Our results show that immunization with a single dose of VZV vaccine is safe and effective in children with SSNS in remission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Marmara University, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Harika
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alpay
authors.forename: Nurdan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yildiz
authors.forename: Aydin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Onar
authors.forename: Hamiyet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Temizer
authors.forename: Sevil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozçay
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008297:Male; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated