What are chickenpox and shingles tests?
These tests check to see if you are or have ever been infected with the varicella zoster virus (VZV). This virus causes chickenpox and shingles. When you are first infected with VZV, you get chickenpox. Once you get chickenpox, you can't get it again. The virus remains in your nervous system but is dormant (inactive). Later in life, VZV can become active and can cause shingles. Unlike chicken pox, you can get shingles more than once, but it is rare.
Both chickenpox and shingles cause blistering skin rashes. Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease that causes red, itchy sores (pox) all over the body. It used to be a very common childhood disease, infecting nearly all children in the United States. But since a chickenpox vaccine was introduced in 1995, there have been far fewer cases. Chickenpox may be uncomfortable, but it's usually a mild illness in healthy children. But it can be serious for adults, pregnant women, newborns, and people with weakened immune systems.
Shingles is a disease that only affects people who once had chickenpox. It causes a painful, burning rash that may stay in one part of the body or spread to many parts of the body. Nearly one-third of people in the United States will get shingles at some point in their lifetime, most often after the age of 50. Most people who develop shingles recover in three to five weeks, but it sometimes causes long-term pain and other health problems.
Other names: varicella zoster virus antibody, serum varicella immunoglobulin G antibody level, VZV antibodies IgG and IgM, herpes zoster
