Herpes zoster ophthalmicus

[Vania]

Herpes zoster ophthalmicus is infection of the eye caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles.

Symptoms include tingling of the forehead, blisters on the forehead and nose, eye ache and redness, light sensitivity, and eyelid swelling.
Doctors diagnose herpes zoster ophthalmicus based on evidence of a shingles rash and involvement of the eye.
The shingles vaccine can help prevent reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus.
People with herpes zoster ophthalmicus are treated with antiviral drugs.

(See also Introduction to Corneal Disorders.)
Varicella-zoster is the virus that causes chickenpox. Once people are infected, the virus remains in a dormant (inactive) stage in the nerve roots. In some people, the virus reactivates and may spread to the skin, causing herpes zoster, also called shingles. If the virus affects the forehead or nose, the eye also can become infected in about half of people, on the same side as the affected skin.