The varicella-zoster virus is a member of the herpes family. The virus causes two separate illnesses and is still referred to by separate terms. The primary infection that causes chickenpox is referred to as varicella; the reactivation of the virus is called herpes zoster. These were once considered separate disorders caused by separate viruses. However, researchers now know they're both caused by a single virus.
Sneezing or Coughing Droplets -- Direct Contact
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, one means of virus transmission is when people with chickenpox cough or sneeze and expel tiny, virus-carrying droplets of fluid on a person who has never had chickenpox or has never been vaccinated. Chickenpox is the original illness that occurs from an infection from the varicella-zoster virus, according to the UMMC. A typical rash is made up of small groups of itchy blisters surrounded by reddened skin. The rash usually begins on the face and quickly spreads throughout the body. Over four days, each blister dries out and forms a scab that falls off one or two weeks later. People suffer from low-grade fever, fatigue, headache and flu-like symptoms during the illness. Adults who contract chickenpox have a much more severe form of the disease than children. According to KidsHealth.org, chickenpox is contagious from approximately two days before the rash originally appears and until all blisters have ruptured and are crusted over. This is highly contagious. People who have not have the chickenpox, or the vaccine, can catch it from someone with shingles, but cannot catch shingles. This is because shingles only develops from a reactivation of the original infection.
Inhaling Sneezed or Coughed Droplets
According to Stanford University, when a person who's never had chickenpox or been vaccinated inhales these particles, the virus is activated in the body, passing from the lungs into the bloodstream and carried to the skin.
Entry Via the Conjunctiva
The virus can also enter the conjunctiva of the eye or the mouth. Once the virus has made contact, it replicates at the inoculation site and moves through the lymphatic system and bloodstream.
Shingles
According to the National Shingles Foundation, shingles is a painful outbreak of rash or blisters caused by a reactivation of the same virus that causes chickenpox. At this time, scientists do not know what triggers this reactivation, but they do know that it more commonly occurs in people older than 50 or those who have a weakened immune system. Symptoms include burning or shooting pain, numbness, tingling or itching in an isolated region of the body. People may also experience mild flu-like symptoms and lesions that appear on the skin from one to 14 days later As with chickenpox, the blisters slowly crust, scab and heal. However, pain from the condition may continue for a month or longer.
