The incidence of varicella-zoster-virus infection/reactivation in adult patients with Hodgkin's disease undergoing autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT) at the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic was determined. Seven of 28 evaluable patients (25%) developed varicella-zoster infections in the first 150 days post-transplant. Two additional patients developed zoster after day 150 for a total incidence of 32%. We evaluated analysed risk factors to determine if there were any characteristics that could identify patients at risk for zoster early (less than 150 days) in their post-transplant course. Sex, age, prior radiation, and lack of immunity as determined by viral antibody titers were not associated with an increased incidence. Ten of the 28 patients had a history of zoster at some time after the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease. Six of these 10 patients (60%) again developed zoster post-transplant. This compared to only one episode of varicella-zoster post-transplant among the 18 patients without a history of zoster following the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease (p less than 0.01, Fisher's exact). We conclude that a prior history of zoster any time after diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease is strongly associated with developing zoster in the first 150 days after autologous BMT.