Frequency of Putative Enteric Zoster Diagnosed Using Saliva Samples in Patients With Abdominal Pain: a Prospective Study

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infects and establishes latency in neurons in the ganglia of the cranial nerve, dorsal root, and enteric ganglia. VZV reactivation in enteric neurons (enteric zoster) can cause nonspecific abdominal pain and/or serious gastrointestinal dysfunction without cutaneous manifestations. Detection of VZV DNA in saliva may be useful for identifying enteric zoster. We evaluated the frequency of putative enteric zoster based on the presence of salivary VZV DNA in patients with acute abdominal pain.

Adult patients who visited the emergency room due to moderate to severe acute abdominal pain were prospectively enrolled at a tertiary hospital between May 2019 and November 2019. Abdominopelvic computed tomography (APCT) was performed in all patients. Saliva samples were collected from all studied patients. Enteric zoster was suspected based on the presence of salivary VZV DNA, detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).