Chickenpox in Immunocompromised Patients about 3 Case Reports

Abstract

Chickenpox is a common infectious disease in childhood, usually benign. It can be severe in immunocompromised patients and eventually fatal with multi-visceral involvement. The complications affect 4% -8% of cases and are dominated by bacterial superinfections, related mainly to staphylococcus and streptococcus. We report 3 cases of chickenpox in patients diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. All the patients consulted for a febrile eruption made of multiple cutaneous lesions of different ages with umbilical vesicles which could retain the diagnosis of varicella. Our patients received in intravenous antiviral treatment for 10 days associated with antibiotic therapy (ceftriaxone and amikacin). The evolution was marked by a clinical-biological improvement, with only one death related to a delay of consultation. Our study agrees with the data in the literature concerning the frequency of occurrence of complications and death in immunocompromised patients.