Herpes zoster

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Adult dermatome	Herpes zoster (shingles), disseminated	Herpes zoster (shingles) - close-up of lesion	Herpes zoster (shingles) on the arm
Herpes zoster (shingles) on the back	Herpes zoster (shingles) on the back	Herpes zoster (shingles) on the chest	Herpes zoster (shingles) on the hand
Herpes zoster (shingles) on the hand and fingers	Herpes zoster (shingles) on the neck and cheek	Shingles

Involvement of the facial nerve may cause Ramsay Hunt syndrome with facial paralysis, hearing loss, loss of taste in half of the tongue and skin lesions around the ear and ear canal. Shingles may, on occasion, involve the genitals or upper leg.

Shingles may be complicated by a condition known as post-herpetic neuralgia. This is persistence of pain in the area where the shingles occurred that may last from months to years following the initial episode. This pain can be severe enough to be incapacitating. The elderly are at higher risk for this complication.

Herpes zoster can be contagious through direct contact in an individual who has not had chickenpox, and therefore has no immunity. Herpes zoster may affect any age group, but it is much more common in adults over 60 years old, in children who had chickenpox before the age of one year, and in individuals whose immune system is weakened. The disorder is common, with about 600,000 to one million cases in the U.S. per year.

Most commonly, an outbreak of shingles is localized and involves only one dermatome. Widespread or recurrent shingles may indicate an underlying problem with the immune system such as leukemia, Hodgkin's disease and other cancers, atopic dermatitis, HIV infection, or AIDS. People with suppressed immune systems due to organ transplant or treatment for cancer are also at risk.

Review Date: 05/26/2006
Reviewed By: Monica Gandhi MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.