Herpes zoster in children with stage I-III Hodgkin's disease

Herpes zoster infection developed in 12 (52%) of 23 children with Stage I-III Hodgkin's disease but had no prognostic significance. Of these 23 patients, 22 are presently alive without evidence of active Hodgkin's disease. The authors conclude that a combination of factors is important in the high incidence of herpes zoster, including more aggressive staging as well as more aggressive irradiation and chemotherapy, and that the results in their series would seem to justify continuation of this approach to staging and treatment in such cases.