A 70-year-old woman with shingles: review of herpes zoster.

Herpes zoster is a common late complication of varicella-zoster virus exposure and can be further complicated by postherpetic neuralgia. Ms A is a 70-year-old woman with shingles and Ramsay-Hunt syndrome who presented to the emergency department with a few days of earache followed by pain in the back of her head. Using her case as a springboard, the diagnosis, natural history, and treatment of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in immunocompetent older adults are reviewed, in addition to the effectiveness of the herpes zoster vaccine.