Shingles (Herpes Zoster) is the term given to a painful viral infection, which affects the nervous system and is caused by a virus named Varicella Zoster. This is the same virus that leads to chicken pox infection in children. Shingles occurs in adults but is not a result of direct infection. It affects both males and females. In the United States up to a million adults develop the symptoms every year – so it is actually quite common.

You should not confuse this infection with what is commonly called Herpes. That is a completely different infection called Herpes Simplex from the Herpes family of virus in which you develop cold sores and genital herpes. They are related only because the viruses in the group all have the ability to attack once, then remain dormant in the body for years before they become reactivated.

The symptoms, causes, complications, diagnosis, and treatment shingles infection.

If you had chicken pox as a child or were inoculated against it, after you recover, the virus remains dormant and migrates to the nervous tissue of your skin.

The Varicella Zoster virus can remain hidden for many years without causing any problems at all until due to various situations it gets reactivated much later in life leading to shingles – a condition in which you develop various patterns of very painful rashes or blisters on your skin. Even after the rashes clear up the pain may remain or reoccur often.

Many people worry about whether they can catch shingles off someone who is suffering from or has suffered from an attack. It has been found that you cannot develop or catch shingles directly. However, if you are exposed to someone with shingles, you may develop chickenpox which in later life could then progress to shingles.

Remember however, that not everyone who gets chickenpox as a child goes on to develop shingles later. In fact only a small percentage of those who were as children infected by chicken pox (about 10%) do develop shingles.

Other things you should note are that Shingles is never due to some food you ate or an allergic reaction to something you ate, put on your skin or wore. It is usually triggered when your immune system is low or weak which is why the elderly or really ill adults (e.g. with chronic long term illness) are most vulnerable and why shingles is most common in this group of people.

Symptoms of Shingles Infection

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