By: Whitley Morris and Brandi Hall

Herpes Zoster (Shingles)

Does your skin look like this?

If so, contact your doctor immediately. You may have herpes zoster. Also known

as shingles.

A painful, blistering skin rash due to the varcellas-zoster virus. Virus that causes

chicken pox.

Description

The first symptom of shingles is usually one-sided pain, tingling, or burning. Pain and

burning my be severe and is usually present before the rash. Red patches on the skin, followed by small blisters, form in most

people.

Symptoms

Abdominal pain Chills

Difficulty moving muscles in face. Drooping eyelids General ill-feeling Genital lesions

Headache Hearing loss Joint pain

Loss of eye motion Taste problems Vision problems

You may also have pain, muscle weakness, and a rash involving different parts of your face if shingles affects a nerve in your face.

Additional Symptoms

Shingles may develop in any age group, but you are more likely if:

You are older than 60 You had chicken pox before age 1 You immune system is weaken by medications

or disease.Shingles may also occur because of illness,

trauma and stress.

Causes of this skin disorder

Your doctor can diagnosis you by looking at the skin and reviewing your medical history.

Test are rarely needed but may include taking a sample of your skin to see if it is infected. Blood test may show an increase in white

blood cells and antibodies to the chicken pox virus but can not confirm the rash is due to

shingles.

Diagnostics

Doctor may prescribe you with an medicine that fights the virus, called an antiviral.

Acyclovir, famciclovir and valacyclovir may be used.

Treatment

Acyclovir Famciclovir Valacyclovir

Scarring Bacterial skin infections

Decrease or loss of vision or hearing Paralysis on one side of the face

Muscle weaknessAllodynia (pain from a source that would not normally cause pain � such as pain from a slight breeze over the skin or the touch of clothing on

the skin) Long-term nerve pain called post herpetic

neuralgia (PHN)

Worst Case Scenario

Pain, numbness, itching and tingling which lasts long after the rash vanishes.

Can last months to years.Medications can prevent this if taken at an

early stage.

Post-herpetic neuralgia

1. 131 deaths per year caused by shingles in the

United States, 58 in Mexico and 54

in Germany.

2. 20% of people who have had

chickenpox will eventually develop

shingles.

3. Most likely to occur in people

with HIV.

Facts about Herpes Zoster

http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/index.htmlhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/P

MH0001861/

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/picture-of-shingles

Work Cited