Introduction:

HERPES ALSO Known as shingles, this is a disease caused by a virus that attacks a sensory nerve. The skin over the nerve generally breaks out in blisters a few days after the onset of the disorder, along with pain and numbness or hypersensitivity along the course of the nerve, usually on the trunk. The blisters are at first clear, but become cloudy within a few days and form crusts that dry up after five or ten days. The agent that causes the disease is the virus that causes chicken pox in children. The skin manifestation of herpes zoster is not serious, but the pain caused by the inflammation of the underlying nerve can be severe, lasting for weeks; recovery may be followed by persistence of neuralgia in the area of the involved nerve

Varicella–zoster virus (VZV) is known to cause two diseases: chickenpox (varicella) and shingles (herpes zoster).

Chickenpox is a common contagious disease of children that usually has a benign course. However, chickenpox in adults or people with weakened immune systems can have serious complications. Second attacks of chickenpox are very rare. Shingles is caused by a reactivation of the latent VZV. In other words, the virus lies dormant in nerve cells in the spine and can re-emerge in the form of shingles years after you have had chicken pox