Shingles is caused by a virus capable of entering a lysogenic lifecycle.

• A. Lytic Cycle
• B. Active Infection
• C. Growth Phase
• D. Lysogenic Cycle

Answer: (D)

The question tests understanding of viral latency and stages of the viral life cycle. Shingles occurs when the varicella-zoster virus, after a chickenpox infection, becomes latent in nerve cells and can later reactivate. That latent behavior is what the lysogenic (latent) lifecycle describes: the viral genome persists in the host without producing new virus immediately, and a later switch to active replication leads to disease symptoms. So the lysogenic cycle is the best description here because it captures the idea of dormancy followed by reactivation.

The lytic cycle, in contrast, means the virus is actively replicating and destroying the host cell right away, which isn’t what underlies shingles. Active infection isn’t a cycle term, and growth phase isn’t a virology term describing latency or reactivation.