People who've seen herpes zoster know enough about it to be fearful.
They know that the disease that can be seriously painful, and they know that you can get it just like that for no reason.
Herpes zoster or shingles as it is known among those who recognize it well, comes to those who have weakened immune systems - anyone who's advanced in years, or is weakened from taking long courses of medicines for instance.
The problem of course is, it doesn't attack everyone who is weakened.
There is no telling who is most at risk.
The shingles disease just comes in one day and there it is.
What does it feel like to have it? The first signs of the shingles disease starts as a kind of itching - it burns and itches usually on the hands or around the back, the face or the neck.
And then come the horribly tender-looking blisters.
They usually appear running along a nerve.
They do that because that's what the virus attacks, the nerves.
If you've ever had chickenpox, the virus lies dormant in your system for as long as your immune system is capable of holding it in.
When you weaken, it breaks out again, and this time, you have shingles.
Anyone who's had chickenpox anytime though can't catch anything from a person who has the shingles disease.
People think that shingles while it's painful and annoying, isn't really a serious disease.
That might be true only part of the time though.
Even once the blisters have crusted over and won't catch any more, the shingles disease can give birth to all kinds of other secondary problems - pain, bacterial skin infections and so on.
The most unpleasant thing to fear from shingles is Disseminated Zoster.
The virus spreads all over the nerves and weakens the muscles.
It also affects the vital organs.
Thankfully, there is getting over this.
What's more difficult to get over though is the postherpetic neuralgia.
This is pain that lasts for a very long time.
It could be seriously debilitating pain that can stay for years.
The older a person is when they get shingles, the worse their chances of avoiding the constant pain.
The shingles disease in older people can cause serious facial pain, headaches, pain along the nerves.
The very worst part of the shingles disease though is when the virus attacks the nerves leading to the eyes.
They call it Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus when it does that.
It starts with pain and inflammation around the eyes.
Anyone who begins to get that, needs to drop everything and rush to the doctor.
There is no end to the kind of complications for the shingles disease brings.
There is the Ramsey Hunt syndrome that paralyzes the face for instance.
Shingles needs a great deal of close supervision by a doctor.
Most people start with a qualified dermatologist, and that's great idea.