Test Code VZG Varicella-Zoster Antibody, IgG
Additional Codes
Epic: LAB162
Specimen Required
Specimen Type: Serum
Collection Container/Type
Preferred: Serum gel
Acceptable: Red top
Submission Container/Tube: Plastic vial
Specimen Volume: 3 mL
Collection Instructions: Centrifuge and separate cells after clot formation and within 4 hours of collection.
Specimen Minimum Volume
0.5 mL
Specimen Stability
Room temperature: Unacceptable
Refrigerated: 7 days
Frozen: >7 days
Reference Range
See laboratory report
Rejection Due To
Unlabeled, mislabeled, wrong tube type, QNS, severely hemolyzed samples and any sample from which the lipid layer has not been removed.
Report Available
1 day
Clinical Significance
Varicella (chicken pox) is an acute, highly contagious viral
disease with worldwide distribution, seasonal prevalence in winter
and spring, characterized by generalized vesicular exanthema often
accompanied by fever. While mostly a mild disorder in childhood,
varicella tends to be more severe in adults and it may be fatal,
especially in neonates and in immunocompromised subjects.
Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), a Herpesviridae, is the causative
agent of the disease that shows little genetic variation (only one
serotype is known). Following primary infection, the virus remains
latent in neural ganglia, and upon subsequent reactivation VZV may
cause zoster (shingles), a disease mainly affecting the elderly and
immunocompromised persons, that consists in painful, circumscribed
eruption of vesicular lesions with
inflammation of associated dorsal root or cranial nerve sensory
ganglia. IgM antibodies to varicellazoster virus may be detected
during primary and reactivated infection.
Evaluation of specific immune status for VZV may guide management
of immunosuppressed patients and administration of antiviral
agents. Varicella infection occurring in susceptible pregnant women
can lead to severe, and even fatal, disease of the newborns.
Infection occurring in the first four months of pregnancy can lead
to child deformity, while infection at the time of delivery may
cause life-threatening infection in newborns. Although individual
cases may be prevented or modified by VZV immunoglobulin
administration or treated with antiviral drugs, varicella can be
controlled only by vaccination.
Method Name
Chemiluminescent Immunoassay (CLIA)
Aliases
Chickenpox
Herpes Zoster Antibodies
Shingles
Varicella-Zoster Antibody Screen, Qualitative, Serum
Varicella-Zoster Immune Status, Serum
VZ Ab, IgG
VZV
Varicella-Zoster IgG, Serum
Day(s) Performed
Monday - Friday
LOINC
5403-1