Herpes zoster in a 2-week-old premature infant with possible congenital varicella encephalitis.

This report concerns a case of neonatal herpes zoster associated with maternal gestational varicella. The child developed skin lesions at 18 days of age virologically confirmed to be varicella-zoster. The baby also had encephalitis and aspiration probably due to bulbar paralysis. Multiple small necrotic areas were found in the thalamus at post-mortem examination.