zoster-, zoster +
(Greek: girdle; belt)
diazoster
An old name for the twelfth vertebra of the spinal column because a belt girding the body is usually placed over it.
herpes zoster
1. An acute infectious, usually self-limited, disease believed to represent activation of latent varicella-zoster virus in those who have been rendered partially immune after a previous attack of chickenpox.
2. A reactivation of the same Herpes virus that is responsible for chicken pox. This results in a painful blistery red rash that is confined to one side of the body.
It involves the sensory ganglia and their areas of innervation, characterized by severe neuralgic pain along the distribution of the affected nerve and crops of clustered vesicles over the area of the corresponding dermatome, and is usually unilateral and confined to a single or adjacent dermatomes. Also called: acute posterior ganglionitis, shingles, zona, and zoster.
zoster
1. A belt or girdle worn by men in ancient Greece.
2. Herpes zoster; pain typical of herpes zoster in an appropriate sensory area but not followed by the development of characteristic lesions.
Varicella zoster is the virus that causes chickenpox. The varicella zoster virus is a member of a big family of related viruses in the Herpes clan, so shingles is a relative of the common cold sore (Herpes labialis). After a person has a natural case of chickenpox, the virus lives on in the body in the nervous system; specifically, in the nerve roots branching off the spinal cord and coursing out between the spinal discs to the body.
Certain stimuli (stress, fever, tension, etc.) in certain unfortunate individuals can trigger the virus to multiply and flow down the nerve fibers to the skin. There, itchy, sometimes painful lesions, quite reminiscent of chickenpox sores will develop. If these are tested, they are full of chickenpox virus (varicella zoster). The resultant painful disease is sometimes called shingles. If shingles re-occurs (and sometimes it does; especially, in older people) it apparently always affects exactly the same area of the body.
zoster auricularis
Herpes zoster of the ear.
zoster brachilis
Herpes zoster affecting the arm or forearm.
zoster facialis
Herpes zoster involving the sensory fibers of the trigeminal nerve distributed over the face. Any or all of the three branches may be involved.
zoster femaralis
Herpes zoster occurring over the sacrum (curved triangular bone at the back of the pelvis with the hipbones on each side) and extending down the thighs. The perineal region (between the anus and the sex organs) may be involved.
zosteriform
1. Shaped like a girdle or belt.
2. Resembling herpes zoster.
zosteroid
1. Similar to or like a belt.
2. Resembling herpes zoster.
zoster ophthalmicus
Herpes zoster affecting the first division of the fifth cranial nerve or the ophthalmic (eye) nerve which can seriously affect one's sight.
zosterops
Any of the small birds of the genus so named, widely distributed chiefly in tropical and subtropical regions, and charaterized by a ring of white feathers around the eyes; also known as, "silver-eye" or "white-eye".
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