Shingles (Herpes Zoster)

2022-10-31

Key facts

Shingles or Herpes Zoster is caused by a viral infection.
It is caused by the Varicella Zoster virus.
This virus can cause two disease outcomes – chicken pox, usually in childhood, and shingles later in life.
After having chicken pox as a child, the virus lies dormant and continues to live dormant in the nerve cells of the body.
The most common mode of transmission is by person-to-person contact with infected respiratory tract secretions.
Transmission, may also occur by aspirating airborne droplets or by direct contact and/or inhalation of aerosols from skin lesion fluids.
Shingles may occur years or decades after the primary infection, if the dormant virus in the nerve root is reactivated. When the virus is reactivated, it travels along the nerve down to the skin and causes extreme pain and a blister like rash around the part supplied by the affected nerve, most often around the back or trunk of the body or sometimes, parts of the face.

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Shingles (Herpes Zoster)￼

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