How to Use zoster in a Sentence

zoster

noun
  • Zostavax contains a weakened form of the live varicella-zoster virus.
    — Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 2 Dec. 2025
  • Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox, varicella zoster.
    — Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 2 Dec. 2025
  • Chickenpox and shingles are both caused by the varicella-zoster virus.
    — Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 17 July 2021
  • The infection is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus behind chickenpox.
    — Samantha Agate, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Apr. 2026
  • The complication, ophthalmic herpes zoster, can cause pain, swelling, scarring and even vision loss.
    — Erin Blakemore, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2017
  • One example is shingles, which is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus behind chickenpox.
    — Cassie Shortsleeve, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The varicella-zoster virus causes both chickenpox and shingles.
    — Lindsey Leake, NBC news, 28 June 2026
  • The reason for the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus is unknown.
    — Maggie O'Neill, SELF, 13 June 2022
  • The varicella-zoster virus spreads through direct skin-to-skin contact with fluid from the blisters or by breathing in particles from them.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Ramsay Hunt syndrome is caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chicken pox in children and shingles in adults.
    — L'oreal Thompson Payton, Fortune Well, 3 Mar. 2023
  • The illness emerges when the varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox, reactivates in your body.
    — Alisa Hrustic, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Apr. 2025
  • Shingles is a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus that causes chicken pox.
    — Ashley Milne-Tyte, NPR, 6 Apr. 2026
  • It is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which stays in one’s body for the rest of their life after getting chickenpox and may activate years down the line as shingles.
    — Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which initially causes chickenpox but then lingers in the body, staying mostly dormant in nerve cells.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 15 May 2026
  • The varicella-zoster virus causes not just the itchy chickenpox rash but sometimes systemic infections, pneumonia and brain swelling.
    — Andrea Tamayo, Scientific American, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Justin was recently diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which can happen when the varicella-zoster virus infects a nerve in the head.
    — Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 4 July 2022
  • The comparison is pretty accurate—shingles is caused by the same virus as chickenpox, varicella zoster, which can stay dormant for decades after those itchy red spots are gone.
    — Petra Guglielmetti, Glamour, 7 May 2026
  • Other tiny invaders stick around—among them, the varicella-zoster virus which initially causes chickenpox but then becomes latent in neurons for the rest of a patient’s life.
    — Lois Parshley, National Geographic, 3 June 2020
  • Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that occurs when the varicella-zoster virus infects a nerve in the head near the inner ear.
    — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 11 June 2022
  • 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 most effective way to prevent shingles is to get vaccinated with the recombinant zoster vaccine called Shingrix, Szema said.
    — Alyssa Hui, Verywell Health, 25 May 2023
  • Chickenpox is transmitted through contact with an infected person’s respiratory droplets or their lesions, which contain the varicella zoster virus.
    — New York Times, 25 May 2018
  • Many pharmacists have gotten certified to administer immunizations such as for flu, pneumonia, and herpes zoster (shingles).
    — Philly.com, 23 Aug. 2017
  • One is an article from the Department of Health in Queensland, Australia, about shingles, an infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus.
    — Molly Stellino, USA TODAY, 22 Sep. 2022
  • Earlier this month, Justin told fans he had been diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a condition that occurs when a varicella-zoster virus infects a facial nerve.
    — Chelsey Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 22 June 2022
  • Shingles is a viral infection that causes a painful rash, according to Mayo Clinic, and it’s caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus responsible for chickenpox.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Astronauts have had reactivations of Epstein-Barr and varicella-zoster viral infections—a function of a change in immune status.
    — Adam Rogers, Wired, 5 Apr. 2021
  • The syndrome itself is not contagious, but a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus could cause chickenpox in people who have not previously been vaccinated for it or had the condition.
    — Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY, 10 June 2022
  • Ramsay Hunt syndrome is not contagious; however, reactivation of the varicella zoster virus can cause chicken pox in people who have never had chicken pox or haven’t been vaccinated for it.
    — L'oreal Thompson Payton, Fortune Well, 3 Mar. 2023
  • The Cleveland Clinic explains that Ramsay Hunt is a complication of either shingles or chickenpox, which are caused by the varicella-zoster virus.
    — Bykristine Gill, Fortune, 23 Nov. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word '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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