1 Division of Critical Care, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
2 Division of Emergency Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
3 Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
We agree with Dr Goldsmith's caution in projecting trends from any case series. We would also like to take this opportunity to present the incidence of group A
-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS) complications in children with varicella-zoster virus (VZV) at our institution since the data collection period of our prior study.1 In 1994, there were four children with GABHS bacteremia, none with VZV; in addition, four children were hospitalized with GABHS complications (cultures of sterile sites other than blood) during VZV infection (two with osteomyelitis, two with deep abscesses).