Severity of illness and outcome in adult patients with primary varicella pneumonia.

Background: Varicella pneumonia is a serious complication of primary varicella infection in adults that often results in respiratory failure and death.

Objective: To analyze the clinical and laboratory manifestations of primary varicella pneumonia in patients admitted to our intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: Retrospective study on patients treated in our ICU with a diagnosis of primary varicella pneumonia during a period of 15 years.