Immune Response to Varicella Vaccination in Subjects with Atopic Dermatitis Compared to Nonatopic Controls (VAR 05)

Young children have the highest prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) and are at significant risk complications from vaccinia. As a surrogate, we believe investigating the immune response to varicella vaccination will yield important information about alterations in the immune response to live virus vaccines subjects with AD. Evaluation of 30 analyzable children with AD and 30 analyzable nonatopic controls is planned. Subjects immunized with varicella vaccine will have blood drawn for laboratory evaluations 3 weeks after immunization. The immune response to varicella will be assessed by measuring the proportion of varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-specific T cells, perforin production, and VZV-specific antibody titers. Because of the and systemic T helper cell 2 (Th2) polarization of subjects with AD, an altered response to varicella vaccination expected. Specifically, it is expected that AD subjects will exhibit decreased cell-mediated responses, but exhibit normal to increased humoral responses as evidenced by production of VZV-specific antibodies.