A 35-year-old male Nigerian suffered from severe varicella pneumonia, which was complicated by severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute kidney injury and acute hepatitis. He developed persistent hypoxia despite maximum mechanical ventilation support requiring veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. He recovered well with the treatment and the pulmonary infiltrates in the chest X-ray resolved within 5 days after the onset of respiratory failure. He was eventually discharged without major sequelae.
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