{"id":4470,"date":"2021-09-15T16:36:50","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T04:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/?page_id=4470"},"modified":"2025-05-05T14:21:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T02:21:35","slug":"shingles","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/shingles\/","title":{"rendered":"Shingles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Infection:<\/strong> Shingles; zoster; herpes zoster; varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Brief description:<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<p>Caused by reactivation of VZV (same virus as chicken pox), with characteristic painful rash in a dermatomal pattern.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Did you know?<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<p>Vaccination is funded in NZ in those aged 65 years. This is regardless of whether they recall a history of chicken pox, and serology to check is not recommended.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Who should I test?<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<ul>\n<li>Laboratory testing is <strong>not usually required<\/strong>. The diagnosis is made <strong>clinically<\/strong> in the vast majority of people due to the characteristic nature of the rash.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Laboratory testing is reserved for <strong>atypical cases<\/strong> where there is diagnostic uncertainty.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We recommend <strong>HIV testing<\/strong> in people with <strong>recurrent<\/strong> or <strong>atypical presentations<\/strong> of shingles, including shingles occurring in <strong>young people<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Test of choice:<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<p>Request <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/scg.labapps.nz\/#\/WEL\/details\/27512\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VZV PCR<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Viral swab of rash for VZV PCR <\/strong>(need to obtain fluid or cellular material on swab)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Good<strong> sensitivity &#8211; <\/strong>a <strong>negative<\/strong> result on an<strong> adequately collected sample <\/strong>makes<strong> <\/strong>the diagnosis <strong>very<\/strong> <strong>unlikely<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Excellent<strong> specificity &#8211; <\/strong>a <strong>positive<\/strong> result <strong>confirms<\/strong> the diagnosis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Note: swabs run for VZV PCR in our laboratory are <strong>run for HSV PCR in parallel<\/strong>, as these viruses can mimic each other.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-accordion ab-block-accordion\"><details><summary class=\"ab-accordion-title\">Tests to avoid\/specialist tests:<\/summary><div class=\"ab-accordion-text\">\n<p><strong>Serology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This has <strong>no role<\/strong> in the diagnosis of shingles due to the fact shingles is caused by reactivation of a virus already present in the body.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Infection: Shingles; zoster; herpes zoster; varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":4222,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-left-sidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Shingles &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/shingles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shingles &#8211; Awanui Labs - Wellington\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Infection: Shingles; zoster; herpes zoster; varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/shingles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Awanui Labs - Wellington\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-05T02:21:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fl-healthscope-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/lab-sites\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/Awanui-Labs-Lab-Technician-min.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"917\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/shingles\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.awanuilabs.co.nz\/central\/wellington\/for-referrers\/microbiology\/how-do-i-diagnose\/shingles\/\",\"name\":\"Shingles &#8211; 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