Varicella zoster virus Varicella zoster virus Varicella zoster virus or varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is one of eight herpesviruses known to infect humans. It causes chickenpox (varicella), a disease most commonly affecting children, teens, and young adults, and shingles (herpes zoster) in adults; shingles is rare in children. VZV is a worldwide pathogen known by many names: chickenpox virus, varicella virus, zoster virus, and human herpesvirus type 3 (HHV-3). VZV infections are species-specific to humans, but can survive in external environments for a few hours, maybe a day or two. VZV multiplies in the lungs, and causes a wide variety of symptoms. After the
Disease burden disease burden in 2000 could be attributed to the effects of (short-term) exposure to air pollution, noise, radon, natural UV radiation, and dampness in houses. The percentage can increase to up to 13% due to uncertainty, assuming no threshold. Among the investigated factors, long-term PM10 exposure have the greatest impact on public health. As levels of PM10 decrease, related disease burden is also expected to decrease. Noise exposure and its associated disease burden is likely to increase to a level where the disease burden is similar to that of traffic accidents. The rough estimates do not provide a complete picture