Herpes Zoster in Four HIV Seropositive Patients and One Patient With Recurrent Carcinoma After Radiotherapy

Abstract

Herpes zoster is a ubiquitous ultramicroscopic neurotropic virus that causes pruritic acute grouped vesicular eruptions and rashes, these vesicles rupture spontaneously resulting in pustules, crustations, which are pruritic in nature on the affected skin along the course of the dermatome resulting in scab. The scab withers off later leaving a permanent scar and pigmentation. The characteristic clinical finding was that vesicles or ulcers resulting from herpes zoster lesions never cross the midline. Two such reported cases of herpes zoster in seropositive HIV patients that resulted in extensive crustations and periorbital edema, left unilateral facial pain of burning quality in 25-year-old female patient and spontaneous exfoliation of a tooth in another 35-year-old patient, treated with drug therapy comprising acyclovir, gabapentin, amitriptyline are discussed here.