Herpes zoster

• Herpes Zoster (also known as shingles or zoster) is a painful skin rash caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox.
• After a person is infected with VZV and develops chickenpox, the virus usually remains dormant (or inactive) in nerve cells known as dorsal root and cranial ganglia without causing any symptoms.
• Ninety-eight percent of the world’s adults have been exposed to the varicella virus and are therefore at risk of getting zoster. 
• Reactivation (the return of the VZV to the skin leading to the rash) may occur spontaneously, but is usually thought to be induced by a temporary or permanent weakness in a patient’s immune system.
• The rash of zoster cannot be passed from one person to another. 
• Most cases of zoster begin with intense pain in the affected area of skin that usually lasts one to three days before any rash appears (though it can be more than a week). This pain, and the rash that follows, is usually limited to an area of skin (single side of the body) associated with a single sensory nerve (known as a dermatome) and the immediate surrounding area. 
• In most patients, affected areas of skin heal well. 
• In about one-third of cases, the pain of zoster can be prolonged for months or years after the rash subsides. 
• Most cases of zoster are straightforwardly diagnosed by physicians without further testing. 
• Acute attacks of zoster are usually treated with oral antiviral medications (acyclovir, famciclovir, or valacyclovir). 
• The zoster vaccine, approved by the FDA in 2006, is indicated for the prevention of zoster in adults age 60 years and older. 
• More about herpes zoster