Viral herpes is a viral skin disease caused by the viral herpes virus. Herpes simplex is a skin disease caused by the herpes simplex virus, which invades the mucosal junction of the skin and manifests itself as a limited cluster of small blisters, while herpes zoster is an acute viral skin disease caused by the herpes virus, which is characterized by dense small blisters and neuralgia along a band of peripheral nerves, with local lymphomegaly. Etiology The disease is caused by the DNA virus herpes viralis (HSV). Human viral herpes is divided into two types, namely viral herpes type I (HSV-Ⅰ) and viral herpes type II (HSV-Ⅱ). Type I primarily causes infections of the skin, mucous membranes (oral mucosa) and organs (brain) other than the genital area. Type II primarily causes infection of the skin and mucous membranes in the genital area. Humans are the only natural hosts of viral herpes. The virus enters the body via the gastric airway, oral cavity, genital mucosa, and broken skin, and resides latently in the human recreational mucosa, blood, saliva, and in the learned ganglion cells. Primary infection is mostly occult, most of them have no clinical symptoms or show subclinical signs, only some individuals can show clinical symptoms. After the primary infection occurs, the virus can be hidden in the body for a long time. Pathogenesis Herpes simplex is caused by herpes simplex virus (classified as type I and type II), for which the human body is the only natural host. When the body resistance decreases, the disease is promoted and pathologically manifests as intraepidermal blisters, epidermal necrosis, multinucleated epithelial giant cells, eosinophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies and significant neutrophilic and lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrates. Herpes zoster is due to activation of the latent varicella-zoster virus in the body. This virus, which has been latent in the body’s nerve cells for a long time since first infecting the patient, is induced when immunocompromised, and its histopathology is similar to the former, but the latter is more inflammatory than the former. Clinical manifestations Herpes simplex is clinically divided into primary and recurrent forms. 1. Primary forms are herpetic gingival stomatitis, herpetic vulvovaginitis, inoculated herpes simplex, herpetic eczema, disseminated herpes simplex, neonatal herpes, etc. 2. Recurrent types include herpes of the mouth and lips (facial herpes), genital herpes, herpes virus type II infection, recurrent herpetic keratoconjunctivitis, etc. Herpes zoster has a sudden or painful onset, and the damage is caused by clusters of green bean-sized blisters on inflammatory erythematous plaques, with intermittent papules, blisters or blood blisters, and normal skin between the clusters. The duration of the disease is 2 to 3 months or longer, and the local lymph nodes are often enlarged, with pressure pain, fever in severe cases, and varying degrees of pain.