Medical complications of herpes zoster in immunocompetent patients.

The vast majority of the more than 300,000 annual cases of herpes zoster in the United States occur among healthy, immunocompetent persons. Most patients recover from reactivated varicella-zoster infection, but some experience complications. The most common of these is postherpetic neuralgia, but other neurologic as well as ocular and dermatologic complications can occur as well. Zoster during pregnancy is not of serious concern. Ongoing trials of antiviral agents are aimed at resolving the infection quickly and decreasing the incidence and severity of postherpetic neuralgia.