A 44-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with fever, eruptions, and dyspnea. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed bilateral diffuse ground-glass opacities and multiple ill-defined nodules. Primary varicella pneumonia was diagnosed on the basis of typical eruptions, high titer of antibody against varicella-zoster virus. The demonstration of varicella-zoster virus DNA in vesicle fluid specimen by the polymerase chain reaction technique was useful in the formulation of a definitive diagnosis. The patient was treated with acyclovir, methylprednisolone, immunoglobulin and antibiotics, and fever and respiratory failure improved.
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