What Is the Chickenpox Virus?

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) refers to varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which is caused by the first infection in children, and the virus is latent in the body after recovery. A few patients in the adult cause the virus to recur and cause shingles. Shingles virus.

Varicella-zoster virus

VZV is morphologically the same as HSV. There is only one serotype. There are 71 genes in the genome, encoding 67 different proteins, including 6 glycoproteins (gp gp), which are now collectively named gE, gB, gH, gI, gC and gL. The glycoproteins gE, gB, and gH are extremely abundant in infected cells.

VZV has no animal storage host, and humans are the only natural host. The skin is the main target organ of the virus.

There are two types of VZV infection in humans, namely primary infection

The antibodies induced by VZV's three major glycoproteins can all neutralize the virus. Among them, the glycoprotein gB and HSV gB have 49% of the same amino acids, but the immune relationship is unclear. Specific humoral and cellular immunity and cytokines such as

Clinically typical chickenpox or shingles does not generally require laboratory diagnosis. However, for patients without immune response and atypical symptoms, herpes fluid can be used for rapid electron microscopy or cell culture to isolate the virus; or immunofluorescence test can be used to detect herpes virus antigens on smear base material smears and biopsy tissue sections; or VZV DNA of cerebrospinal fluid was amplified by PCR. These methods all help to make a clear diagnosis.

The incubation period is 12-21 days, with an average of 14 days.

Varicella-zoster virus is transmitted through the following routes:

Humans are the only natural host for varicella-zoster virus, and skin epithelial cells are the main target cells. The virus enters the body through the respiratory tract or contact infection through droplets. After 2 viremias, the virus replicates in large quantities and spreads throughout the body, especially the skin and mucosal tissues. Extensive skin appearance after about 2-3 weeks of incubation

Shingles is a common skin disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The disease mainly invades the skin and nerves. Skin pimples occur, clusters occur unilaterally, and are often accompanied by significant tingling. The folk often call it "snake string sore, loincloth". Before the liberation of this disease, there were no special methods, the treatment was very difficult, the efficacy was not good, and there were many opportunities for sequelae. Therefore, there are many methods or misunderstandings circulating in the people. Let's introduce these misunderstandings one by one

Shingles is a skin disease caused by a virus. In the past, economic conditions were poor, medical awareness was weak, and the understanding of the disease was inadequate. After the illness, they were often not treated in time, and there were no specific antiviral drugs. This led to the birth of various indigenous methods. "Cut" is a popular method in folk. The specific method is: when the sky is bright, facing the East, miss a word, then chop the prepared straw rope into several sections with a knife, and then circle the affected area with ink, once a day for four or five days in a row. The only advantage of this method is that the ink is applied to the affected area. In the traditional Chinese medicine, Jingmo has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, and can be used for the treatment of this disease. However, the current ink has no such effect, and it has not been disinfected, and it is easy to secondary infection after external use. With the development of society and the development of science and technology, in recent years, many antiviral drugs with good effects and small side effects have been developed, such as acyclovir, famciclovir, and valacyclovir. They are very effective and have few side effects. As long as the patient can see the doctor in time and regular medication, most of them can be cured quickly. Of course, some patients who are old and weak and have low immune function, if they are not found in time, and take the medication in time, there may still be more obvious sequelae of neuralgia. The patient caused significant pain.

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. After the virus infects the human body, chicken pox or stealth infection occurs, and then lurks in the neurons of the spinal cord root ganglion. It can recur under the stimulation of various inducing factors (trauma, infection, overwork, etc.), neuralgia appears in the injured nerve, and papules appear on the skin. Contagious.

Most of herpes zoster accumulates unilaterally and is band-shaped, with neuralgia and skin damage, which will not affect life. Only a small number of patients with immunocompromised, elderly and fragile or tumors will spread. Such patients may be complicated by lung, brain and other system damage, which will be life-threatening.

The treatment of shingles is mainly internal treatment, antiviral drugs are first-line drugs, glucocorticoids are contraindicated for varicella and shingles. Glucocorticoids may cause the spread of the virus and aggravate the disease. It can be used in combination with topical drugs such as furnace Stone lotion, acyclovir cream, penciclovir cream, etc. can be used. Realgar of Chinese medicine, Ji Desheng snake pills, Liushen pills are also available. But all need to prevent the occurrence of infection. Patients with sequela neuralgia can cooperate with Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and phototherapy.