[Herpes zoster: follow-up, complications and therapy]

In clinical practice herpes zoster infections are common. The cause is the reactivation of the herpes varicella virus that persists in the sensory ganglia after an earlier primary infection with shingles. There are several neurological complications such as meningitis, ventriculitis, encephalitis, myelitis, cerebral angiitis, myositis, paresis of motor nerves, acute polyneuritis, and most commonly post-zoster neuralgia. A proposed reason for these complications is the direct infiltration of the virus or a hematogenous infection. Some of the complications can be treated symptomatically such as post-zoster neuralgia and the occurrence of certain complications that can be prevented by the right choice of acute therapy.