title: Foscarnet salvage therapy for acyclovir-resistant varicella zoster: report of a novel thymidine kinase mutation and review of the literature.
abstract: The authors describe an acyclovir-resistant varicella zoster virus infection in a pediatric patient after hematopoietic stem cell transplant, the use of foscarnet as salvage therapy, and review the literature to clarify the pediatric experience with foscarnet in this setting. A novel thymidine kinase mutation is described, along with a new phenotypic assay for characterizing acyclovir resistance in varicella zoster virus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, QEII Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: Todd
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hatchette
authors.forename: Graham A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Tipples
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alsuwaidi
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Timothy Lloyd
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Mailman
mesh_terms: D000212:Acyclovir / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D017245:Foscarnet / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D009154:Mutation; D016879:Salvage Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D013937:Thymidine Kinase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017245:Foscarnet; D013937:Thymidine Kinase; D000212:Acyclovir