[Disseminated herpes zoster in chronic lymphatic leukemia]

A 73-year-old woman suffering from chronic lymphatic leukemia presented a rare variant of zoster with disseminated eruptions. Ultrastructural negative staining revealed viruses of the herpes group. Herpes simplex was excluded by means of fluorescence-labelled monoclonal antibodies (HSV-1/HSV-2 direct specimen identification/typing test). It is proposed that the conventional classification of zoster into a segmental and a generalized variant should be supplemented.