Aging, Immunity, and the Varicella–Zoster Virus

Abstract

Older people and their physicians are all too well acquainted with herpes zoster — commonly called shingles, from the Latin cingulum, or “girdle.” Most recognize that aging creates a special vulnerability to this often severely painful skin rash caused by varicella–zoster virus (VZV). VZV is so named because varicella (chickenpox) represents the first encounter between the virus and the host, and herpes zoster represents the second. VZV persists in the sensory ganglia of the cranial nerves and the spinal dorsal-root ganglia after varicella resolves, and it may become reactivated after many decades of latency; molecular analyses of VZV DNA demonstrate . . .