Deep sequencing of viral genomes provides insight into the evolution and pathogenesis of varicella zoster virus and its vaccine in humans.

ABSTRACT: Immunization with the vOka vaccine prevents varicella (chickenpox) in children and susceptible adults. The vOka vaccine strain comprises a mixture of genotypes and, despite attenuation, causes rashes in small numbers of recipients. Like wild-type virus, the vaccine establishes latency in neuronal tissue and can later reactivate to cause Herpes zoster (shingles). Using hybridization-based methodologies, we have purified and sequenced vOka directly from skin lesions. We show that alleles present in the vaccine can be recovered from the lesions and demonstrate the presence of a severe bottleneck between inoculation and lesion formation. Genotypes in any one lesion appear to be descended from one to three vaccine-genotypes with a low frequency of novel mutations. No single vOka haplotype and n

SUBMITTER: Depledge DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3907055 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature