In article <4bden2$8u5 at news.service.uci.edu>,
eaeg286 at aldebaran.oac.uci.edu (Paul Fierro) wrote:
> Hello,
>> I'm not into microbiology, but my girlfriend is and she challenged me to
> find what diseases the following cause:
>> varicella-zoster
> epstein barr
>
varicella-zoster (VZV) is a neurotrophic alpha-herpesvirus. Its primary
infection in children causes the desease called varicella (hence the name
of the virus) that is fairly common in the pre-scholar and scholar age.
The virus then goes in latency in neuronal ganglia and either its
reactivation or primary infection in adults causes the deseases called
chickenpox and shingles, really painful, characterized by epithelial cells
disruption with skin vescicles and nerve inflammation. A vaccine has been
recently developed and is being tested. Pharmacological therapy involves
the use of nucleotide analogs that specifically block the viral
replication.
Epstein-Barr (EBV) is a lymphotrophic gamma-herpesvirus. It infects
lymphocytes where it establishes life-long infection. It causes the
desease mononucleosis and also a clear role as causative or partially
causative agent in the Burkitt's lymphoma has been proven, due to the
immortalization of lymphocytes following the infection.
Just basic infos...look up in a virology textbook under Herpesviruses for more.
Regards, G. Maga
