can shingles sores get infected
Colds sores and shingles are distinct viruses, but you can think of them as cousins since they have the same great, great, great-grandparents (belong to the same viral subfamily, Alphaherpesvirinae). They have similar structures, but they cause very different infections. Cold sores (infectious blisters on the mouth and lips) are caused by herpes simplex virus 1 and/or 2. Herpes simplex virusâs cousin, the varicella zoster virus (aka herpes zoster virus), causes shingles. Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus that infected you as a child, and then went into hiding in nerve cells near your spinal cord, the dorsal root ganglion.