[Significance of diabetes mellitus in the activation of the varicella zoster virus (author's transl)].

Eruptive herpes zoster infection (VZV) and its primary and secondary diseases are reported in 28 patients aged between 25 and 85 years. In 2 cases, malignant primary diseases were found. In 16 patients, a disorder of glucose utilization was diagnosed, 8 of them accompanied by a disorder of fat metabolism and 5 by a hyperuricemia. In one case a severe encephalomyelitis was observed. In 2 patients the activation of the VZV infection was related to the cytostatic or immunosuppressive therapy of a generalized Hodgkin's disease and a multiple sclerosis. Once a liver abscess as a sequel to amebic dysentery was diagnosed and once a megaloplastic anemia with symptoms of a funicular myelopathy following a vitamin B12 deficiency syndrome. In VZV infection the search for basal metabolic disorders is of particular importance.