An Overview of Shingles Disease – The Symptoms and Treatment of Herpes Zoster

Shingles disease, or herpes zoster, is an outbreak of a rash or blisters caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus also responsible for chickenpox. The word “varicella” is derived from the Latin "little pox" to distinguish the virus from smallpox. “Zoster” comes from the Greek word for "girdle" since the shingles disease often produces a girdle of blisters or lesions around the waist. The varicella-zoster virus belongs to a group of viruses called herpesviruses, a large group containing more than 70 members that infect organisms from fungi to humans. The group also includes the herpes simplex virus that causes cold sores, fever blisters, mononucleosis and genital herpes.

Symptoms

The first shingles symptoms are a burning or tingling sensation on or under the skin accompanied by a possible fever, headache, chill or upset stomach. Pain and tenderness of the skin can last from a few days to a couple of weeks before a rash appears. The rash made up of small fluid-filled blisters, reminiscent to chickenpox, will only ever affect one side of the body. The pain is often described as “unrelenting” and usually the patient will not want clothing to touch the affected area. Within a week the blisters burst and for most people, it will take 3-5 weeks for the area to heal and the pain to subside. In some cases, however, there can also be painful after affects, known as postherpetic neuralgia.

Treatment

For effective shingles treatment, it is imperative that antiviral drugs are administered immediately after diagnosis, usually within 72 hours. The severity and duration of the outbreak can be significantly reduced with drugs such as acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famcyclovir. Postherpetic neuralgia can also be fought with the use of such antiviral drugs. To reduce pain, the person can also take an anti-inflammatory pain killer. If the person is suffering from ocular herpes (infection of the eye) they may need to visit an ophthalmologist and begin a course of specific antiviral eye drops.