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Apr 19, 2024 · Herpes zoster (shingles) is caused by the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes varicella (chickenpox). Primary infection with VZV causes varicella. After a person has varicella, the virus remains dormant in the dorsal root ganglia. VZV can reactivate later in a person's life and cause herpes zoster, a painful ...
- About Shingles (Herpes Zoster) | Shingles (Herpes Zoster) | CDC
What it is. Shingles is a painful rash illness. People get...
- Clinical Features of Shingles (Herpes Zoster) | Shingles ...
People with herpes zoster can have pain, itching, or...
- About Shingles (Herpes Zoster) | Shingles (Herpes Zoster) | CDC
May 10, 2024 · What it is. Shingles is a painful rash illness. People get shingles when the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which causes chickenpox, reactivates in their bodies after they have already had chickenpox. An estimated 1 million people get shingles each year in this country. Most people who develop shingles only have it one time during their life.
Apr 24, 2024 · People with herpes zoster can have pain, itching, or tingling in the area where the rash will develop. A person can experience the following symptoms several days before the rash appears: Headache. Photophobia (sensitivity to bright light) Malaise. Common symptoms. People with herpes zoster have a rash in one or two adjacent dermatomes.
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Shingles symptoms usually affect only a small section on one side of your body. These symptoms may include:
•Pain, burning or tingling
•Sensitivity to touch
•A red rash that begins a few days after the pain
•Fluid-filled blisters that break open and crust over
•Itching
Contact your health care provider as soon as possible if you suspect shingles, especially in the following situations:
•The pain and rash occur near an eye. If left untreated, this infection may lead to permanent eye damage.
•You're 50 or older. Age increases your risk of complications.
•You or someone in your family has a weakened immune system. This may be due to cancer, medications or chronic illness.
•The rash is widespread and painful.
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Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. Anyone who's had chickenpox may develop shingles. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus enters your nervous system and stays inactive for years.
Sometimes the virus reactivates and travels along nerve pathways to your skin — producing shingles. But not everyone who's had chickenpox will develop shingles.
The reason for shingles is unclear. It may be due to lowered immunity to infections as people get older. Shingles is more common in older adults and in people who have weakened immune systems.
Varicella-zoster is part of a group of viruses called herpes viruses. This is the same group that includes the viruses that cause cold sores and genital herpes. As a result, shingles is also known as herpes zoster. But the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles isn't the same virus that causes cold sores or genital herpes, which is a sexually transmitted infection.
Anyone who has ever had chickenpox can develop shingles. Most adults in the United States had chickenpox when they were children. That was before the availability of the routine childhood vaccination that now protects against chickenpox.
Factors that may increase your risk of developing shingles include:
•Age. The risk of developing shingles increases with age. Shingles typically occurs in people older than 50. And people over the age of 60 are more likely to experience more-severe complications.
•Some diseases. Diseases that weaken your immune system, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, can increase your risk of shingles.
•Cancer treatments. Radiation or chemotherapy can lower your resistance to diseases and may trigger shingles.
•Some medications. Drugs that prevent rejection of transplanted organs can increase your risk of shingles. Long-term use of steroids, such as prednisone, may also increase your risk of developing shingles.
Complications from shingles can include:
•Postherpetic neuralgia. For some people, shingles pain continues long after the blisters have cleared. This condition is known as postherpetic neuralgia. It occurs when damaged nerve fibers send confused and exaggerated messages of pain from your skin to your brain.
•Vision loss. Shingles in or around an eye (ophthalmic shingles) can cause painful eye infections that may result in vision loss.
•Neurological problems. Shingles may cause inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), facial paralysis, or problems with hearing or balance.
A shingles vaccine may help prevent shingles. People who are eligible should get the Shingrix vaccine, which has been available in the United States since its approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 2017. The Zostavax vaccine is no longer available in the U.S., but other countries may still use it.
Shingrix is approved and recommended for people age 50 and older, whether they've had shingles or not. People who've had the Zostavax vaccine in the past or don't know whether they've had chickenpox may also receive the Shingrix vaccine.
Shingrix is also recommended for people who are 19 years of age and older who have weakened immune systems due to disease or medication.
Shingrix is a nonliving vaccine made of a virus component. It's given in two doses, with 2 to 6 months between doses. The most common side effects of the shingles vaccine are redness, pain and swelling at the injection site. Some people also experience fatigue, headache and other side effects.
The shingles vaccine doesn't guarantee that you won't get shingles. But this vaccine will likely reduce the course and severity of the disease. And it will likely lower your risk of postherpetic neuralgia. Studies suggest that Shingrix offers protection against shingles for more than five years.
Talk to your health care provider about your vaccination options if you:
•Mayo Clinic Minute: Learn more about eye shingles
•Mayo Clinic Q and A: Shingles -- not just a band of blisters
Aug 20, 2022 · Treatment. There's no cure for shingles. Early treatment with prescription antiviral drugs may speed healing and lower your risk of complications. These drugs include: Acyclovir (Zovirax) Famciclovir. Valacyclovir (Valtrex) Shingles can cause severe pain, so your health care provider also may prescribe: Capsaicin topical patch (Qutenza)
Nov 29, 2022 · Herpes zoster is a preventable disease. In 2006, a live, attenuated, one-dose zoster vaccine (ZVL) (ZOSTAVAX ®, manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) was licensed for the prevention of zoster in adults aged 60 years and older [ 19 ], and revised to adults aged 50 years and older in 2011 [ 20 ].
Mar 11, 2013 · Potentially. If you have not had chickenpox or the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine, avoid contact with the rash and blisters on persons with shingles (or chickenpox).; If the rash or blisters are on the face, neck, or in the oral cavity (e.g., tongue or palate), dental hygiene care should be postponed until after the rash/blisters have completely healed (or in the case of the face and neck ...
