Herpes zoster historical perspective
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; L. Katie Morrison, MD; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
History
Herpes zoster has a long recorded history, although historical accounts fail to distinguish the blistering caused by VZV and those caused by smallpox,[1] ergotism, and erysipelas. It was only in the late eighteenth century that William Heberden established a way to differentiate between herpes zoster and smallpox,[2] and only in the late nineteenth century that herpes zoster was differentiated from erysipelas. The first indications that chickenpox and herpes zoster were caused by the same virus were noticed at the beginning of the 20th century. Physicians began to report that cases of herpes zoster were often followed by chickenpox in the younger people who lived with the shingles patients. The idea of an association between the two diseases gained strength when it was shown that lymph from a sufferer of herpes zoster could induce chickenpox in young volunteers. This was finally proved by the first isolation of the virus in cell cultures, by the Nobel laureate Thomas H. Weller in 1953.[3]
Until the 1940s, the disease was considered benign, and that serious complications were thought to be very rare.[4] However, by 1942, it was recognized that herpes zoster was a more serious disease in adults than in children and that it increased in frequency with advancing age. Further studies during the 1950s on immunosuppressed individuals showed that the disease was not as benign as once thought, and the search for various therapeutic and preventive measures began.[2] By the mid-1960s, several studies identified the gradual reduction in cellular immunity in old age, observing that in a cohort of 1,000 people who lived to the age of 85, approximately 500 would have one attack of herpes zoster and 10 would have two attacks.[5]
References
- ↑ Weinberg JM (2007). "Herpes zoster: epidemiology, natural history, and common complications". J Am Acad Dermatol 57 (6 Suppl): S130–5. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2007.08.046. PMID 18021864
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Weller TH (2000). Chapter 1. Historical perspective in: Varicella-Zoster Virus: Virology and Clinical Management (Arvin AM & Gershon AA, editors). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521660246.
- ↑ Weller TH (1953). "Serial propagation in vitro of agents producing inclusion bodies derived from varicella and herpes zoster". Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 83 (2): 340–6. PMID 13064265.
- ↑ Holt LE & McIntosh R (1936). Holt's Diseases of Infancy and Childhood. D Appleton Century Company. pp. 931–3.
- ↑ Hope-Simpson RE (1965). "The nature of herpes zoster; a long-term study and a new hypothesis". Proc R Soc Med. 58: 9–20. PMID 14267505.