The remarkable new hypothesis put forth by R. Edgar Hope-Simpson, a general practitioner in Cirencester, England, in 1965 on the nature of herpes zoster was based on the observation of every case of herpes zoster by Hope-Simpson and his partner over 16 years in their practice of 3500 persons [1]. They recorded 192 cases of zoster during the 16-year period of 1947–1962, for an annual rate of 3.4...

BACKGROUND Herpes zoster or, as it is commonly called, 'shingles' is a neurocutaneous disease characterised by the reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV), the virus that causes chickenpox, which is latent in the dorsal spinal ganglia when immunity to VZV declines. It is an extremely painful condition which can often last for many weeks or months, impairing the patient's quality of life. T...

Herpes zoster ophthalmicus commonly presents with vesicular eruptions of skin along a dermatome and post herpetic neuralgia. Viral invasion into the intracranial vessel and resultant arteritis is rare complication, reported mainly in elderly, children and immunocompromised individuals. We report a young immunocompetent male who reported to us with acute right sided hemiparesis following an epis...

We describe clinical and laboratory characteristics of 16 patients with central nervous system (CNS) infection caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and another pathogen. Seven of 10 immunocompromised patients had coinfection with viruses (3 with cytomegalovirus, 2 with JC virus, and 2 with varicella zoster virus) and 3 with nonviral pathogens (2 with pneumococcus and 1 with Cryptococcus species)....

An indirect hemagglutination test has been adapted for use with varicella-zoster serology. Antigen was made in infected WI-38 human diploid cell line. The indirect hemagglutination antigen seemed to be a subunit of the virus particle. The antibodies measured in the test are well correlated with neutralizing and complement-fixing antibodies in cases of zoster but not in cases of varicella.

Varicella zoster virus DNA in mononuclear cells was studied by the polymerase chain reaction to obtain virological evidence of reactivation in the children who had contracted chickenpox in infancy. The results appear to explain why chickenpox in infancy is a risk factor for herpes zoster in immunocompetent children.

Herpes Zoster (HZ) is a Cutaneous Viral infection caused by Varicella zoster virus (VZV). Lesions of HZ are usually limited to one dermatome only but sometimes, there can be dissemination of lesions. The present case describes the role of proper examination of HZ case, which presents with disseminated lesions.

By multiple criteria, inosiplex-a reputed stimulator of virus-sensitized lymphocytes-had no demonstrable therapeutic effects in a preliminary controlled study of patients with localized herpes zoster and cancer. Lymphocytes from the six drug-treated patients were no more responsive to varicella-zoster antigen and phytohemagglutinin than were lymphocytes from seven patients who received a placebo.

Herpes zoster as a reactivated phase of chickenpox is very rare in infancy due to the protective effect of the maternal immunity against the virus.1,2 Overall rate of zoster is 3.40 cases per 1000 persons. The lowest incidence is less than 10 years old (0.74/1000) per year. The earliest age reported is in a 3-month old infant.3 Herein we present a 3 month-old otherwise healthy boy with herpes z...