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
Brazilian disease the news media. Brazilian disease Brazilian disease is a phrase in economics to describe the situation in which the Brazilian real has strengthened (trading at around R$1.95 to the US dollar) on high prices for commodities such as soybeans, making Brazilian exports of manufactured goods uncompetitive in foreign markets. The term was coined to compare the economic situation facing Brazilian exports in the late 2000s to Dutch disease, an older term referring to similar conditions faced in the Netherlands in the 1960s and 1970s due to massive natural gas exports. The term "Brazilian disease" has not been widely used in