Shingles Mycobacterium Avium Complex CMV Retinitis Shingles Shingles is a very painful skin rash that is caused by the same herpesvirus, varicella zoster, that causes chickenpox. Like other herpesviruses, there is an initial infectious stage, followed by a dormant stage, and then, the virus may become active again, sometimes decades later. The initial infectious stage manifests as the chickenpox, and the later flare-up is shingles. Only people who have had chickenpox or who have had the chickenpox vaccine can develop shingles.
Shingles is often an early sign of immune deficiency.
But it can occur at any time, at any T-cell count, even after starting antiretroviral therapy. A shingles outbreak typically starts as very painful belt-like rash on one side of the body, usually on the chest, back, forehead, or in the eye. The rash is made up of small blisters that crust over. The virus can be transmitted if the blisters break open. Rather, people who have never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine could catch the chickenpox.