Herpes Zoster: Recent Aspects of Diagnosis and Control

Herpes zoster (shingles) is a serious neurocutaneous disease caused by a reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It has been underestimated in terms of its burden, particularly in the elderly population and in immunocompromised patients, who can develop severe complications such as postherpetic neuralgia, meningitis or optic nerve damage. This book compiles state-of-the-art reviews on herpes zoster and VZV by leading clinicians and researchers in the field. They cover the molecular biology, latency and reactivation of the virus as well as the diagnosis, clinical manifestations, epidemiology and therapy of VZV infection. Infections in high-risk patients (immunocompromised hosts and bone marrow recipients) and pregnant women are considered in detail. Emphasis is also given to the direction of future research efforts which will be focused on the very early prevention of chronic zoster pain by combined antiviral and analgesic therapy, and on the control of herpes zoster by administering a VZV-specific vaccine. Providing a valuable update on current strategies to diagnose, treat and prevent herpes zoster, this book is of special interest to clinical virologists, dermatologists, neurologists, gerontologists, pediatricians, ophthalmologists, otologists and general physicians.