Management strategies for herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia.

Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia: past, present and future.

OBJECTIVES The history behind the current understanding of the varicella-zoster virus and its relationship to the pain conditions caused by shingles and postherpetic neuralgia are reviewed. The framework for the current conceptualization is Hope-Simpson's latency hypothesis. Data from recent work in virology, neuroanatomy and epidemiology are reviewed, as is work using varicella-zoster virus-in...

Author's response to reviews Title: Health-Economic evaluation of vaccination strategies for the prevention of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in Germany Authors:

Postherpetic neuralgia: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and pain management pharmacology

Herpes zoster, also known as shingles, is a distinctive clinical condition caused by the reactivation of latent varicella zoster (chickenpox) virus following an initial infection. Approximately 1 million cases of herpes zoster occur annually in the US, and one in every three people develops herpes zoster during their lifetime. Postherpetic neuralgia is a neuropathic pain syndrome characterized ...

Quantification of risk factors for postherpetic neuralgia in herpes zoster patients

OBJECTIVE To investigate risk factors for postherpetic neuralgia, the neuropathic pain that commonly follows herpes zoster. METHODS Using primary care data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, we fitted multivariable logistic regression models to investigate potential risk factors for postherpetic neuralgia (defined as pain ≥90 days after zoster, based on diagnostic or prescription c...

Herpes zoster: medical and nursing management.

Herpes zoster, the latent descendent of the varicella zoster virus, commonly is seen in clinical practice. Healthcare providers must recognize and treat the virus to decrease the incidence of postherpetic neuralgic pain syndrome. Treatment with an antiviral medication regimen should be initiated rapidly for patients who have had lesions for up to 72 hours. Acyclovir has been the treatment of ch...