Shingle affecting your face could cause blindness

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection causes two clinically different types of disease. First, the primary infection with VZV results in varicella (chickenpox).  Chicken pox is characterized by vesicular lesions in different stages of development on the face, trunk, and extremities. The second manifestation is herpes zoster, also known as shingles, results from reactivation of  old VZV infection within the sensory nerves. The symptoms of herpes zoster are painful blister lesions on one side of your body, which usually occurs in a restricted dermatomal distribution.  Herpes zoster is not the same thing as having the sexually transmitted herpes infection.

Herpes zoster/shingle is usually not common in immunocompetent  adults than in patients with immunosuppression,  such as having HIV or undergoing chemotherapy.   Please let your doctor knows right away if you start to have painful skin blister.   Especially important is if you have these painful blister around your face and tip of your nose (the Hutchingson's sign).  In some cases, the inflammation could affect your eyes (herpes zoster ophthalmicus) and may cause blindness.  In general, you are then admitted to the hospital for intravenous antiviral treatment and an ophthalmologist often is consulted to check your vision and optic nerve.

Please see also my blog on Shingle and Chemotherapy, posted previously on November 8, 2012