摘要：On 16 and 17 November 2006, the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS) hosted a workshop on varicella-zoster virus (VZV) disease. The workshop was aimed at presenting the latest information on the clinical, epidemiological, and diagnostic aspects of both primary varicella ('chick-enpox') and herpes zoster (HZ or 'shingles') both in Australia and internationally, and to highlight important developments in the prevention of these diseases by vaccination. This workshop was held at a significant stage in the control of VZV disease in Australia with the recent addition of the varicella vac-cine to the National Immunisation Program (NIP) schedule, the anticipated availability of combination measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccines for use in children, and the availability of a zoster vaccine for use in older adults to prevent reactivation of VZV causing HZ
