How to Use herpes zoster in a Sentence

herpes zoster

noun
  • The good news is that there is a vaccine that can reduce your risk of getting any type of herpes zoster.
    — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 12 June 2022
  • The pain is believed to be triggered by the damage that the herpes zoster virus inflicts on the nerves.
    — Brittany Risher, SELF, 7 Feb. 2025
  • Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is an infection that causes a painful rash.
    — Brittany Risher, SELF, 7 Feb. 2025
  • Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a painful, itchy rash that develops on one side of the body and can last for two to four weeks.
    — Susan Scutti, CNN, 25 Oct. 2017
  • Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a viral infection that causes a very painful rash.
    — Rachel Nall, Msn, SELF, 15 July 2022
  • Shingles, also called zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral infection that affects the nerves.
    — Health.com, 1 May 2017
  • For around a third of these people, this same virus will reactivate years later and cause shingles, also called herpes zoster.
    — Andrew Bubak, The Conversation, 20 Dec. 2022
  • The vaccine protects against a condition called herpes zoster, more commonly known as shingles.
    — Melissa Rudy, Fox News, 1 Nov. 2024
  • It’s also known as herpes zoster, and refers to a painful rash caused by the reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 23 Feb. 2026
  • The virus can reactivate later in life in those who have had chickenpox, leading to shingles (herpes zoster).
    — Carrie Madormo, Rn, Health, 3 Nov. 2024
  • Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is caused by the recurrence of the chickenpox virus after years or decades of the virus being dormant.
    — Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 16 Sep. 2021
  • Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — which is the same virus responsible for chickenpox.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 10 Mar. 2023
  • Shingles is an exquisitely painful herpesvirus illness (herpes zoster virus, to be specific) that leads to pain along a nerve in a dermatome, followed by painful sores and blisters.
    — Nina Shapiro, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2021
  • Giardina pointed to the shingles, or herpes zoster, virus as an example of why optometrists are well suited to give vaccines.
    — Rachel Bluth, NBC News, 30 Nov. 2020
  • Anyone who has had chickenpox is vulnerable to getting it — the herpes zoster virus causes both shingles and chickenpox.
    — Maggie Fox, NBC News, 25 Oct. 2017
  • There is a suggestion that previous infections with the herpes simplex or herpes zoster virus may be involved, but this has not been definitely proven.
    — Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 July 2025
  • The shingles vaccine is up to 97% effective in preventing the condition caused by the herpes zoster virus, which inflames nerves and causes painful rashes.
    — New Atlas, 28 Aug. 2025
  • For instance, the varicella-zoster virus can cause chickenpox in children, go dormant and then reactivate as herpes zoster, or shingles, which causes painful rashes in adults.
    — Ryan Prior, CNN, 5 Oct. 2020
  • The varicella zoster vaccine, marketed under the name Zostavax, has been shown to lower the risk of developing herpes zoster (also known as shingles) by more than half.
    — Health.com, 1 May 2017
  • Even among vaccinated children, the authors point out that herpes zoster has frequently been due to acquiring the virus from another infected person, not the vaccine.
    — Michael Nedelman, CNN, 27 Nov. 2019
  • But in very rare cases, the live, weakened virus used in the vaccine can reactivate as herpes zoster, or shingles, similar to what can happen to people who have been infected with chickenpox.
    — Michael Nedelman, CNN, 27 Nov. 2019
  • Shingles, or herpes zoster, is caused by the same virus responsible for chickenpox, which lies dormant in nerve cells after an initial infection and can reawaken decades later, causing painful rashes.
    — Bryan Walsh, Vox, 5 Apr. 2025
  • Perhaps the best example of this is chickenpox, which although seemingly eradicated by the immune system can reactivate and cause herpes zoster decades later.
    — William Petri, The Conversation, 31 July 2020
  • In 10% to 20% of cases, a shingles rash can affect the nose, forehead, or eyelids and lead to eye damage—also known as herpes zoster ophthalmicus, or ocular shingles.
    — Alex Vance, Fortune Well, 26 Apr. 2023
  • Six women between the ages of 36 to 61 with stable rheumatic diseases developed herpes zoster (or HZ) infection.
    — Miriam Fauzia, USA TODAY, 7 May 2021
  • The virus that causes chicken pox stays dormant in the body until something triggers it, returning in form of herpes zoster (Ramsay Hunt), which can inflame different nerves in the abdomen, back and face.
    — Glenn Garner, PEOPLE.com, 10 June 2022
  • Who Should Get the Shingles Vaccine Shingles, or herpes zoster, is an infection caused by the varicella zoster virus — the same virus that causes chicken pox.
    — Emily Kay Votruba, EverydayHealth.com, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Ramsay Hunt syndrome, also known as herpes zoster oticus, is a rare neurological disorder that is characterized by facial weakness or paralysis and a rash impacting the ear or mouth.
    — L'oreal Thompson Payton, Fortune Well, 3 Mar. 2023
  • How vaccines might be protective One scientific explanation for the reduction of dementia by the herpes zoster vaccine could be the direct protection against the shingles virus, which may play a role in exacerbating dementia.
    — Anand Kumar, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2025
  • All the studies used in the meta-analysis aimed primarily to investigate the use of herpes zoster vaccine to prevent shingles in the general population, which may limit the ability to generalise this research to people with a higher risk of cardiovascular events.
    — New Atlas, 28 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'herpes zoster.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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