Background: Traditionally, varicella zoster (herpes zoster) is believed to have a prodrome of 1-3 days. The objective of our article is to emphasize the importance of including herpes zoster in the differential diagnosis of unilateral pain syndromes without vesicular lesions present for >3 days.
Methods/results: We report a case series from one primary care physician's practice at a tertiary-care teaching hospital documenting herpes zoster prodromes of 6-18 days.
Conclusions: Our findings expand the clinical picture of herpes zoster, which hopefully will lead to cases of improved diagnoses that translate into the timely and cost-effective implementation of appropriate treatment.
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