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Genotype of Varicella-Zoster Virus Isolates in South Korea.

Kim KH, Choi YJ, Song KH, Park WB, Jeon JH, Park SW, Kim HB, Kim NJ, Oh MD

Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; and Infectious Diseases Clinic, National Cancer Center, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.

The information about genotype of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is useful to monitor outbreak of vaccine strains. However, in South Korea, where varicella vaccine has been introduced in 1988, there is limited data about genotype of VZV. VZV were isolated from vesicular lesions of patients with herpes zoster or varicella in South Korea between January 2007 and June 2009. DNAs were purified from single passage isolates. The genotype was determined, by the sequence analysis of open reading frame (ORF) 22. PstI restriction enzyme site in ORF 38 and BglI restriction enzyme site in ORF 54 were evaluated by restriction enzyme analysis. Forty-four patients with herpes zoster and nine patients with varicella were enrolled. Median age of patients with herpes zoster was 59.5 years (range, 10 to 77) and median age of patients with varicella was 8 years (range, 6 to 9). In sequence analysis of ORF 22, all isolates was genotype J, irrespective of age groups. In restriction enzyme analysis, 51 of 54 (94.3%) isolates contained PstI site in ORF 38 and all isolates contained BglI site in ORF 54. Our data suggested that genotype J has been circulating since 1940s in South Korea.

Published 17 March 2011 in J Clin Microbiol.
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