Herpes Zoster in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Series of Three Cases

Kidney transplant recipients require lifelong immunosuppression to prevent organ rejection. The need for this intervention, however, leads to decreased cellular immunity and, in turn, increased risk of developing herpes zoster (HZ) from reactivation of latent varicella zoster virus. HZ commonly presents as a painful rash in a dermatome presentation followed by post-herpetic neuralgia. In immunosuppressed individuals, the presentation can be atypical and vary in severity depending on degree of immunosuppression and host immune response. We present the clinical course of 3 kidney transplant recipients who developed HZ after transplantation at different times post-transplant with varying clinical manifestations. The balance between maintaining immunosuppression and preventing or subsequently treating disseminated disease is discussed.