Portal:Medicine/Selected article/25, 2007

Herpes zoster, colloquially known as shingles, is the reactivation (from the general area of the spinal cord) of varicella zoster virus (VZV, primary infection of which leads to chickenpox), one of the Herpesviridae group, leading to a crop of painful blisters over the area of a dermatome. In Italy and in Malta, it is sometimes referred to as "St. Anthony's fire", although that name usually refers to ergotism. Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a neurological disease. affecting the nervous system, with or without the appearance of a rash on the skin. (More...)