Shingles

About Shingles

Shingles is a painful rash of small blisters that occurs on one side of the body. It is usually on a band of the back and the chest. Shingles occurs when the virus that causes chickenpox reactivates itself in your body. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk of getting shingles. After recovering from chicken pox, the virus stays in your nerve cells in your spinal cord for the rest of your life. Usually it lies dormant and causes no more issues, however if your immune system weakens your body can not fight the disease, which causes the virus to become active again. If this happens, it causes shingles and you will start to receive the first symptoms, which are over-sensitivity and/or a painful sensation in the affected area.

Risks and Chance

The chance of getting shingles at some point in your life is quite high. Data has shown that one in five people will get shingles before they die. Even though Shingles is not as contagious as chicken pox, it is still very easy to catch. Therefore, patients suffering from shingles should stay away from elderly, babies, young children and pregnant women.

Complications

Unfortunately, there is no cure available for people suffering from shingles, your GP will probably prescribe you some medicines but they won't work very well unless it is within first 72 hours of having shingles. Sometimes it is too late for the medicine to work by the time you have been diagnosed. The virus affects your nerves, which means that even after recovering from the disease, patients will still suffer pain after the rash is gone. The pain can linger for weeks, months or even years. Shingles can affect the area around your eyes, which can cause conjunctivitis and redness. This can also cause issues with your vision. If you have any issues with your eyes when suffering from shingles, you need to see a doctor or optometrist. In rare cases, shingles can cause complications of the brain, which is called encephalitis. Encephalitis is a condition that causes irritation and inflammation of the brain and can be life threatening. Finally, shingles can cause short term hearing loss and other ear issues.

Cause

There are many things that increase the risks of the virus reactivating itself in your body. The following are the main reasons:

- Being over 50

It is estimated that about 1 million people get shingles each year in the US. The majority of them are over 60. 

- Period of Increased Stress

- Long term course of corticosteroids

- Having a condition that weakens the immune system. For example, HIV and AIDS.

- Cancer treatments. E.g. chemotherapy

- Medicines affecting the immune system after an organ transplant


Prevention Of Shingles

In Australia, there is a vaccine to prevent shingles and Postherpetic Neuralgia. This vaccine is called the Zostavax (Herpes Zoster Vaccine) and it has been legallized in the US, UK, Australia and a few other places. This vaccine, which was developed by Merck & Co, has been proven trustworthy and has both reduced the risk of catching shingles and reducing the pain of the virus if it is caught. However, this vaccine is not legal in every country so the other way to prevent shingles is to receive the two shots of the Chicken Pox vaccine, which has shown to prevent shingles in 50% of cases.




Credits

http://www.nfid.org/publications/factsheets/varicellaadult.pdf
http://www.bupa.com.au/health-and-wellness/health-information/az-health-information/shingles#Causes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoster_vaccine
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa051016#t=abstract
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/basics/definition/con-20019574
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/
http://www.zostavax.com