Examples of varicella zoster virus in the following topics:
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- Shingles, the common name for herpes zoster, is caused by latent varicella zoster virus, the same virus which causes chickenpox in children.
- Herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, is a viral disease caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox virus, characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a limited area on one side of the body, often in a stripe.
- The initial infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes the acute (short-lived) illness chickenpox which generally occurs in children and young people.
- Varicella zoster virus can become latent in the nerve cell bodies and less frequently in non-neuronal satellite cells of dorsal root, cranial nerve or autonomic ganglion, without causing any symptoms.
- Once vaccinated, most children will not become infected with the varicella zoster virus if exposed, and subsequently will not develop shingles later in life.
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- Viruses that remain dormant in nerve ganglia, such as the varicella zoster virus that causes both chickenpox and shingles, often cause either pain, rash, or both in a pattern defined by a dermatome.
- The rash of shingles is almost always restricted to a specific dermatome, such as on the chest, leg, or arm caused by the residual
varicella zoster virus infection of the nerve that supplies that area of skin.
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- ., the varicella-zoster virus, HSV-1 and Epstein-Barr viruses, all of the herpes family.