Epstein-Barr Virus Associated Hydroa Vacciniforme-like Eruption

Cho, Kwang Hyun

Abstract

Hydroa vacciniforme (HV) is a rare self-limiting disease characterized by vesicles and crust formation after sun exposure. However, cases with HV-like eruptions and severe systemic symptoms have also been described. It had been regarded as a different entity from typical HV. But latent Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection has also been detected in typical HV patients and the possibility has been suggested that typical HV and atypical HV are variants within the same disease spectrum of EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disorders, which ranges from typical HV as a benign pole to severe HV progressing to hematologic malignancy as a malignant pole. Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection (CAEBV) is an atypical illness associated with serologic evidence of persistent EBV infection. The extremely high levels of EBV measured in affected tissue or peripheral blood are the most recently proposed diagnostic criteria. Recently, we found high levels of EBV in the peripheral blood of patients with EBV-associated HV-like eruptions.