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Earlier, shingles and chicken-pox were believed to be two very separate conditions caused by different agents. Today scientists have discovered they are both due to the infection with the varicella-zona zoster virus which is also responsible for the occurrence of herpes. The characteristic lesions for all conditions caused by the same particular virus are best described by the Greek word ‘herpein’ meaning ‘to creep’. Two separate conditions indicate the actual evolution of the virus inside the body; varicella stands for the primer infection and contact with the virus while herpes-zoster are shingles caused by the reactivation of the virus inside the organism. Chicken-pox is an infecto-contagious condition and children with the disease can spread the virus by coughing or sneezing when they expel small droplets containing the virus. Today, children are usually vaccinated against the virus and develop mild symptoms if contacting the infection. The virus expelled by ill patients gets into the lungs of the new host and moves into the bloodstream causing the skin eruption. The typical lesions of the condition occur in 2-4 days after catching the virus; it is known as incubation period. The herpes-zoster condition causes the virus to travel to the dorsal root of the ganglia as the virus has an important tropism on the nervous cells. The dorsal ganglia transmit the information to the brain cells, particularly the sensor information from the skin. When the virus gets inside the brain nervous cells, it can hide from the immune system and cannot be destroyed. The virus can sometimes hide for a life-time and persist in the body on the propriety called latency. Within the latency period the virus can become active many times and cause the infection known as shingles. The herpes-zoster virus affects the nervous ganglia and all nervous connections and can even get to the spinal cord. The most frequently affected areas are face and trunk where the lesions are most likely to occur. Scientists still search the answer to why the virus only reactivates in some infected subjects. The most exposed to the herpes condition are those suffering from AIDS due to the concomitant infection with Herpes-zoster and HIV-viruses. Immunodeficient persons due to cancers or to a treatment with immunosupressors are also most likely to suffer from herpes lesions. Patients who are aging themselves are also more exposed to the reactivation of the virus. This particular virus is known to be part of a virus group with tropism on both human and animal organisms. All viruses from the group share similar symptoms and show latent periods that can last for months, years or a lifetime. The viruses implied are herpes simplex-virus, varicella-zoster-virus, Epstein-Barr-virus, Human herpes virus type 6 and Human herpes virus type 7.
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