Johns Hopkins HIV Guide
Herpes zoster
PATHOGENS
- Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is an enveloped, double-stranded DNA, human α-herpesviruses.
- After inhalation, VZV proliferates in the tonsils and and is carried to the epidermis where it causes chicken pox. Then, VZV travels via retrograde transport from sensory nerve terminals to dorsal root and cranial nerve ganglia, and establishes lifelong latent infection.[6]
- VZV reactivates in setting of declining cell-mediated immunity in elderly and immunocompromised individuals, producing herpes zoster (HZ).
- >95% of adult U.S. population infected; in 50% of individuals, VZV reactivation results in HZ by 85 years of age.[5]
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Last updated: March 7, 2020
Citation
Spacek, Lisa A. "Herpes Zoster." Johns Hopkins HIV Guide, The Johns Hopkins University, 2020. Johns Hopkins Guides, www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_HIV_Guide/545093/all/Herpes_zoster.
Spacek LA. Herpes zoster. Johns Hopkins HIV Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2020. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_HIV_Guide/545093/all/Herpes_zoster. Accessed September 28, 2025.
Spacek, L. A. (2020). Herpes zoster. In Johns Hopkins HIV Guide. The Johns Hopkins University. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_HIV_Guide/545093/all/Herpes_zoster
Spacek LA. Herpes Zoster [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins HIV Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2020. [cited 2025 September 28]. Available from: https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_HIV_Guide/545093/all/Herpes_zoster.
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