An individual showing signs and symptoms of shingles or herpes zoster cannot infect another individual. However, during the period when blisters develop, actual contact with the rash can transmit Varicella zoster virus (VZV) to a person who wasn't previously exposed or infected to the virus and, therefore, has no immunity of the virus.
An individual who has just recently become infected will manifest and develop the signs of Varicella zoster virus infection or chickenpox, but will not develop shingles right away. The newly-infected person becomes extremely contagious until after the crusts have developed. The person is not contagious before the manifestation of blisters or during the episode of post-herpetic neuralgia. The person is not contagious after the disappearance of the rashes.
Symptoms of Shingles
About the Disease
Herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles by the layman, is an acute infection resulting from the reactivation of the latent or inactive Varicella zoster virus (VZV), or chickenpox, that is often contracted during childhood. The Varicella zoster virus residing in the body lies dormant for several years or decades and then becomes activated during the adult years and is more severe in older age groups. Shingles is commonly characterized by the advancement of painful vesicular skin eruptions that follow the underlying route of spinal and cranial nerves affected by the virus.
Knowing the Earliest Signs and Symptoms
The earliest signs of shingles an infected individual may experience are fever, headache, and weakness or body malaise. These signs and symptoms are observations that cannot be exclusively diagnosed by the physician as herpes zoster infection since these are general manifestations that can also be observed with other forms of illness or infection. These arising general observations have the tendency to be misinterpreted or erroneously related to other types of diseases resulting in a wrong diagnosis.
In cases of wrong diagnoses there is a tendency for incorrect treatment, other than what would have been done with a diagnoses of shingles. The non-specific symptoms are then followed by experiences of itchiness, burning pain, hyperesthesia (oversensitivity), and/or paresthesias (numbing or pins and needles sensation).
The associated pain experienced by the infected person can be mild to severe in the affected dermatome, frequently accompanied by sensations such as stinging, aching, or numbing, and often replaced with rapid stabs of strikingly severe pain. On the other hand, children who have herpes zoster often experience no pain.
An individual who has just recently become infected will manifest and develop the signs of Varicella zoster virus infection or chickenpox, but will not develop shingles right away. The newly-infected person becomes extremely contagious until after the crusts have developed. The person is not contagious before the manifestation of blisters or during the episode of post-herpetic neuralgia. The person is not contagious after the disappearance of the rashes.
Symptoms of Shingles
About the Disease
Herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles by the layman, is an acute infection resulting from the reactivation of the latent or inactive Varicella zoster virus (VZV), or chickenpox, that is often contracted during childhood. The Varicella zoster virus residing in the body lies dormant for several years or decades and then becomes activated during the adult years and is more severe in older age groups. Shingles is commonly characterized by the advancement of painful vesicular skin eruptions that follow the underlying route of spinal and cranial nerves affected by the virus.
Knowing the Earliest Signs and Symptoms
The earliest signs of shingles an infected individual may experience are fever, headache, and weakness or body malaise. These signs and symptoms are observations that cannot be exclusively diagnosed by the physician as herpes zoster infection since these are general manifestations that can also be observed with other forms of illness or infection. These arising general observations have the tendency to be misinterpreted or erroneously related to other types of diseases resulting in a wrong diagnosis.
In cases of wrong diagnoses there is a tendency for incorrect treatment, other than what would have been done with a diagnoses of shingles. The non-specific symptoms are then followed by experiences of itchiness, burning pain, hyperesthesia (oversensitivity), and/or paresthesias (numbing or pins and needles sensation).
The associated pain experienced by the infected person can be mild to severe in the affected dermatome, frequently accompanied by sensations such as stinging, aching, or numbing, and often replaced with rapid stabs of strikingly severe pain. On the other hand, children who have herpes zoster often experience no pain.