Barbara, a 68-year-old retired schoolteacher, was beside herself. her husband bob had passed away only a month ago, and a week later, her youngest daughter, 40-year-old maria, had moved back in with her. maria was in the process of divorcing her husband and was seeking sole custody of her three children. the children, ages 6, 8, and 12, were also living in the house with their grandmother. barbara enjoyed playing games, gardening, and taking walks with her family, and on the whole did not mind having the extra company. the extra cooking and cleaning were taking a toll on her health, however. one morning, barbara woke up with excruciating pain on her right rib cage. when she looked at her side in the bathroom mirror, she found that she had an extremely red rash with little vesicular lesions. the rash was localized to her right side and looked very similar to image a. concerned about the rash and the amount of pain associated with it, barbara phoned her physician's office and made an appointment for that afternoon.
during her appointment, barbara discusses her current and previous medical history with dr. jones. up until this rash appeared, barbara had been a healthy individual. she is the appropriate weight for her height, and her blood counts have always been within normal ranges. as an adult, she rarely has gotten sick, even with minor illnesses such as colds. as a child, barbara had received all of the appropriate vaccinations as scheduled and had been a relatively healthy young lady. in fact, barbara could remember missing school for illnesses only twice during her entire school career: once when she had chickenpox in second grade, and once in high school when she had a severe case of the flu. barbara's medical history confirms dr. jones's suspicion of a latent infection, so there is no need for sample collection.
after asking a few more questions about her medical history, dr. jones asks barbara about her current living situation. barbara mentions that her grandchildren are living with her. dr. jones asks about their general health. barbara responds that the 6-year-old is getting over a cold, but that overall they are healthy individuals. dr. jones gives barbara a prescription for acyclovir and tells her to come back if she has any further complications.
which of the following best describes barbara's condition?
influenza caused by influenzavirus
shingles caused by the herpes zoster virus
cold sores caused by human herpesvirus-1
smallpox caused by the smallpox (variola) virus