Healing shingles rash and lesions on the skin of a 66-year-old man. Also known as herpes zoster, the scabbed lesions are seen here after the rash has developed. Shingles is the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus which lies dormant in the nerves after causing chicken pox. A shingles rash is limited to the area of skin supplied by the nerve in which the virus lay dormant.