Answer to Medical Challenge

Yesterdays medical challenge answer was Herpes Zoster (aka: shingles). Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster (chickenpox) virus which lives in the nerve roots and can become reactivated later in life. The blistering eruption can be painful and one distinctive finding is that it rarely crosses the midline of the body. Each nerve has it's own "dermatome" distribution and the infection