Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is an exclusively human virus that belongs to the a-herpesvirus family. VZV is present worldwide and is highly infectious. Primary infection leads to acute varicella or ‘chickenpox,’ usually from exposure either through direct contact with a skin lesion or through airborne spread from respiratory droplets (1,2). After initial infection, VZV establishes lifelong latency in cranial nerve and dorsal root ganglia, and can reactivate years to decades later as herpes zoster (HZ) or ‘shingles’ (3).
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Pergam et al. (2009) studied this question.
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