Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful, burning skin rash. The rash can appear red, dark pink, dark brown, or purplish, depending on your skin tone and typically occurs on one side of the body.
The blisters on the skin form when the underlying nerve nodes are inflamed.
Typical of this disease is that the blisters are usually limited to a small area, namely the part of the skin that is supplied by the inflamed nerve node. It is also typical that only the nerve nodes on one side of the body are attacked.
The shingles virus is probably identical to the chickenpox virus. Since the greatest risk group for shingles is older people with weakened immune systems, it is assumed that it is a resurgence of the chickenpox that was survived in childhood – a so-called secondary disease.
Video:
