©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Microbiology laboratory and the management of mother-child varicella-zoster virus infection
Massimo De Paschale, Pierangelo Clerici, Microbiology Unit, ASST-Ovest Milanese, Hospital of Legnano, 20025 Legnano, Italy
Author contributions: Both authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Correspondence to: Massimo De Paschale, PhD, Microbiology Unit, ASST-Ovest Milanese, Hospital of Legnano, Via Papa Giovanni Paolo II, 20025 Legnano, Italy. massimo.depaschale@asst-ovestmi.it
Telephone: +39-0331-449319 Fax: +39-0331-449578
Received: April 22, 2016
Peer-review started: April 23, 2016
First decision: July 5, 2016
Revised: July 8, 2016
Accepted: July 20, 2016
Article in press: July 22, 2016
Published online: August 12, 2016
Processing time: 110 Days and 16.3 Hours
Peer-review started: April 23, 2016
First decision: July 5, 2016
Revised: July 8, 2016
Accepted: July 20, 2016
Article in press: July 22, 2016
Published online: August 12, 2016
Processing time: 110 Days and 16.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Although varicella during pregnancy is infrequent and congenital varicella syndrome (CVS) is rare, every available means should be used to prevent and diagnose them. Microbiology laboratories can be crucial in these situations: Evaluating a mother’s immune status with sensitive and specific tests for the detection of antibodies; allowing a rapid diagnosis with molecular biology tests when a clinical manifestation may be due to different etiologies; following pregnant women with varicella for the prenatal diagnosis of CVS with close collaboration between molecular biology investigators and specialists in imaging diagnostics.