Herpes zoster (also called herpes zoster, herpes zoster) is a viral disease characterized by a painful vesicular rash limited to one side of the body (right or left) and often in lines.
The initial VZV infection causes the acute and short-lived chickenpox disease that usually affects children and adolescents. After the chickenpox disease is over, the virus remains in the body in a latent form and can cause shingles in the future, often many years after the initial infection.
Herpes zoster is not the same disease as cold sores.
After the initial varicella infection has passed, VZV remains inactive in the perikaryo of single nerve cells and less commonly in satellite nerve cells of the spine, skull, or autonomic nervous system (ANS), without causing symptoms.
Symptoms
Years or decades after the initial infection, the virus can escape from the nerve cell body and through the nerve cell axon to settle in the skin cells of the surrounding area.
The spread of the virus in the skin cells can cause a painful rash. Although the rash usually heals independently after 2 to 4 weeks, some patients experience neurological symptoms in the surrounding area for months or even years, a condition called post-herpetic neuralgia.
Treatment
Preventatively, the VSV vaccine is the most effective way to reduce the incidence of shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia and the severity of symptoms in the event of an outbreak.
Antiviral drugs, however, can reduce the severity of symptoms and the duration of an outbreak of the virus if they are used for 7-10 days and treatment starts within 72 hours of the appearance of the characteristic rash.
