| ICD9 = | ICDO = | Image = Herpes zoster neck.png | Caption = Herpes zoster blisters on the neck and shoulder | OMIM = | MedlinePlus = 000858 | eMedicineSubj = med | eMedicineTopic = 1007 | eMedicine_mult = | DiseasesDB = 29119 | }} Herpes zoster (or zoster), commonly known as shingles, is a viral disease characterised by a painful skin rash with blisters in a limited area on one side of the body. It is caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), which is also the virus that causes chickenpox. After a chickenpox infection the virus can lodge permanently in nerve cell bodies without causing any symptoms, although it is not known exactly how this happens. At times of reduced immuno-competence, years or decades later, the virus may break out of nerve cell bodies and travel down nerve axons to cause viral infection of the skin in the region of the nerve. The nerve