zoster-, zoster +

An old name for the twelfth lumbar vertebra of the spinal column: Diazoster got its name because it corresponds to the waist or to a waist-belt for men.

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: Further terms with the same meaning as herpes zoster are "shingles", "zoster", "zone", and "acute posterior ganglionitis".
2. A reactivation of the same Herpes virus that is responsible for chicken pox: Herpes zoster results in a painful blistery red rash that is confined to one side of the body.
3. Eruptions along a nerve path often accompanied by severe neuralgia or an acute viral disease caused by a herpesvirus: The herpes zoster is the same virus that causes chickenpox.

Characteristics include inflammation of spinal ganglia with pain and a vesicular eruption along the area of distribution of a sensory nerve.

It sometimes accompanies diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and lymphoma; and it may be triggered by trauma or injection of certain drugs.

In some cases, it appears without any apparent reason for activation.

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 it is usually unilateral and confined to a single or adjacent dermatomes.

Shingles involving the ophthalmic nerve of the eye with a vesicular (small skin blister) erythematous (redness of the skin) rash along the nerve path (forehead, eyelid, and cornea) preceded by lancinating (sharply cutting) pain: Symptoms of herpes zoster ophthalmicus include swelling of the eyelid, a rash of the forehead, eye redness and sensitivity to light, and fever.

1. A belt or girdle worn by men in ancient Greece: In the story James was reading, a zoster was a warrior's leather belt, which was covered in bronze plates.
2. Herpes zoster: This type of zoster causes a pain located in an appropriate sensory area but not followed by the development of characteristic lesions.

"Varicella zoster" is the virus that causes chickenpox and it 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.

In certain unfortunate individuals, certain stimuli, like stress, fever, tension, etc., 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.

Herpes zoster of the ear: Because Joan had pains in her right ear, she went to her otorhinolaryngologist for an examination and the diagnosis was zoster auricularis.

Herpes zoster affecting the arm or forearm: Juda felt a painful spot on her right arm and after her doctor examined her, he said that she had zoster brachilis and prescribed medicine to relieve and heal the area.

A viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters involving the sensory fibers of the trigeminal nerve distributed over the face: The zoster facialis involves any of the cranial nerves, that have sensory and motor functions in the face, teeth, mouth, and nasal cavity.

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: Zoster femaralis may also involve the perineal region, which is between the anus and the sex organs.

Herpes zoster affecting the first division of the fifth cranial nerve or the ophthalmic (eye) nerve: The symptoms of zoster ophthalmicus include eye pain, eye redness, light sensitivity, and complications can be vision loss, pain, or increased pressure inside the eye.

1. Shaped like a girdle or belt: Jane thought that her rash had a zosteriform appearance and so she went to the doctor to have it examined.
2. Resembling herpes zoster: The skin eruption on her arm was very strange and so, after Dr. Smart examined it, he said it was a zosteriform inflammation which needed immediate attention.

1. Similar to or like a belt: A zosteroid shape or form is found in such eruptions along a nerve path.
2. Resembling herpes zoster: A zosteroid virus infection is also known as a zosteriform infection.

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: The birds of the zosterops are also known as "silver-eyes" or "white-eyes" and have a length of 8 and 15 cm. These birds thrive in the Indomalayan, Afrotropical and Australasian areas.