Calculation of the anterograde velocity of varicella-zoster virions in a human sciatic nerve during shingles.

Zoster of the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the human body, is an uncommon event. We cared for a child with sciatic nerve zoster who had severe pain over the lower back 6 days before appearance of vesicular rash on the foot in the L4 dermatome. On the basis of the clinical data, we calculated an anterograde velocity for the varicella zoster virion of 5.55 mm/h or .0015 mm/s. Because there is no good animal model of varicella zoster virus reactivation from latency, this experiment of nature fills a notable gap in our knowledge about varicella zoster virus neuronal transportation.