Simplexa™ VZV Swab Direct Kit

Varicella-zoster virus infection causes two clinically distinct forms of disease, depending on whether an individual is experiencing a primary (chickenpox) or secondary infection (shingles)¹. Varicella-zoster virus is highly contagious, spread by exposure to an individual shedding virus from either a varicella or herpes zoster infection. The virus can be spread from person to person by direct contact, inhalation of aerosols from vesicular fluid of skin lesions of acute varicella or zoster and possibly through infected respiratory secretions that also may be aerosolized².

Common complications of VZV infection are bacterial infections of the skin and soft tissue in children and pneumonia in adults. Severe complications include encephalitis, pneumonia (either direct viral pneumonia or secondary bacterial pneumonia), bronchitis (either viral bronchitis or secondary bacterial bronchitis), visceral dissemination (VZV infection of internal organs) and postherpetic neuralgia in immunocompromised individuals. Varicella-zoster virus can also complicate pregnancy; newborns of infected mothers have a small risk of developing congenital varicella syndrome or neonatal varicella².

The clinical presentation of zoster can often be confused with the dermal distribution produced by HSV, and thus it is important to detect VZV rapidly for proper patient treatment and management. The diagnosis of these two diseases is usually made clinically. PCR can be used to provide rapid and sensitive detection of VZV DNA in properly collected specimens.

1. Albrecht MA. (2017, May 31). Diagnosis of varicella-zoster virus infection. UpToDate. Retrieved on 06/27/2018 from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/diagnosis-of-varicella-zoster-virus-infection.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Chicken Pox (Varicella). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/hcp/clinical-overview.html. 

A CLIA moderate complexity assay for the direct detection of the VZV DNA Polymerase gene from only 50 µl of cutaneous and mucocutaneous swab specimens. The assay improves efficiency with a true sample-to-answer workflow without DNA extraction.