ARTHRITIS AND VASCULITIS DURING THE INCUBATION PERIOD OF VARICELLA

Arthritis and vasculitis are very rare complications of varicella occu rring almost exclusively after the eruption of the characteristic rash . We report two children, aged three and seven years, who developed va sculitis and polyarthritis (patient No. 1) and arthritis (patient No. 2) 13 and 9 days, respectively, before the onset of their typical vari cella. Arthritis and vasculitis so early in the incubation period of v aricella have not been described previously. In all previously reporte d cases the arthritis occurred after or together with the onset of var icella and only in one instance preceded the exanthem by 2 days. Altho ugh this may have been an unfortunate coincidence, an association betw een varicella tester virus and these manifestations should be seriousl y considered. Clinicians confronted with such cases must be cautious a nd search for varicella infection, especially in times of epidemics.