Medical Dictionary

shingles

noun pl but singular in constr shin·gles \ˈshiŋ-gəlz\

Medical Definition of SHINGLES

:  an acute viral inflammation of the sensory ganglia of spinal and cranial nerves associated with a vesicular eruption and neuralgic pain and caused by reactivation of the herpesvirus causing chicken pox—called also herpes zoster, zona, zoster

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