Med-Surg - Integumentary System, part 5: Herpes Simplex Virus and Herpes Zoster

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Hi. I'm Cathy with Level Up RN. In this video, I will be covering viral skin disorders, including herpes simplex virus as well as herpes zoster or shingles. And at the end of the video, I'm going to give you guys a little quiz to test your knowledge of some of the key points I'll be covering, so definitely stay tuned for that. And I will be following along with our Level Up RN Medical-Surgical Nursing flashcards. If you have our flashcards, definitely pull them out so you can follow along with me, and be sure to pay close attention to the bold red text on the cards because these represent the most important facts that you are likely to get tested on in nursing school.

Herpes simplex virus, or HSV, is a viral infection that can cause HSV-1, which is typically spread through contact with contaminated saliva, and HSV-2, which is typically spread through sexual contact. So after becoming infected with the virus, the virus remains dormant in the nerve ganglia until it becomes activated during times of stress. Symptoms of HSV include painful vesicular lesions and ulcers on the mouth and lips for HSV-1 and on the genitals for HSV-2, and often, pain, burning, and/or tingling may precede the appearance of these vesicles. Fever and malaise are other symptoms associated with HSV. Clinical examination and serological tests can be used to diagnose HSV. There is no cure for the virus, but antiviral agents can help to decrease the severity and frequency of outbreaks. In addition, analgesics as well as topical anesthetic agents can be used to address pain. In terms of patient teaching, as the nurse you want to reinforce the importance of using condoms as well as abstaining from sexual activity when lesions are present.

Moving on to herpes zoster now, herpes zoster, or shingles, is a viral disease that is caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, which is the virus that causes chickenpox, so after a chickenpox infection, the virus will remain dormant in the nerve ganglia until it becomes reactivated by a trigger, such as immunosuppression, infection, stress, or fatigue. And as you all know, stress and fatigue are very common in nursing school, and that is how I ended up with shingles when I was a nursing student. In terms of signs and symptoms, patients will often have abnormal skin sensations, such as a burning feeling, as well as fever and malaise before the lesions appear. They will then get a painful unilateral vesicular rash that runs along a dermatome. So this rash may appear on one side of the face or on one side of the torso, which is what I had. Clinical examination or a PCR test of the vesicle can be used in the diagnosis of shingles.

There is no cure for the virus, but antiviral medications can help decrease the severity of the infection, and analgesics can be used for pain. Patients with shingles will need to be placed on airborne and contact precautions until the lesions have crusted over, and people with shingles should avoid contact with people who have not had chickenpox and who have not received the chickenpox vaccination. So to be clear, someone with shingles can't give someone else shingles, but someone with shingles can give someone chickenpox if they are susceptible. An important complication of shingles that's definitely important to know is something called postherpetic neuralgia. This is where the patient has pain that can last for months or years after the rash disappears. It's also important to know that there is a vaccine available that can help prevent shingles, so the CDC currently recommends that adults over the age of 50 receive this vaccine.

All right. It's time for a quiz. I've got three questions for you. First question. Antiviral medications are used to cure herpes simplex virus. True or False? The answer is False. So antiviral medications can help decrease the severity and frequency of outbreaks, but they do not cure the virus. Question number two. What is the name of the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles? The answer is the varicella-zoster virus. Question number three. Blank is a complication of shingles that causes pain that can last for months after the rash clears up. The answer is postherpetic neuralgia. All right. I hope you did great with that quiz, and I hope this video was super helpful. Take care, and good luck with studying.

In this video, we will be discussing viral skin disorders, including-- and as always, I will be following along with our Level Up RN flashcards. These are our-- the virus will remain dormant in the.