Indian Dermatol Online J. Shailesh M. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Address for correspondence: Dr.
E-mail: ni. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3. Open in a separate window. Figure 1. Figure 2. Haribhakti PB, Mackwan R. Viral infections. In: Valia RG, editor. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, about 50 percent of people who live to age 85 will develop shingles at some point in their life. One of the most common complications of shingles is postherpetic neuralgia.
The condition involves continued pain long after the rash from shingles clears up. According to the CDC, postherpetic neuralgia affects about one-third of people over the age of 60 who develop shingles.
If it appears near or over the eyes, shingles can also lead to a severe infection of the retina, which can lead to vision loss. Bacterial skin infections are another possible complication. In rare cases, shingles can lead to encephalitis , which is an inflammation of the brain. Shingles can sometimes be mistaken for another skin conditions, such as hives , psoriasis , or eczema.
The characteristics of a rash may help doctors identify the cause. For example, hives are often raised and look like welts. Psoriasis often involves red patches that have white scales throughout the rash. At first, the shingles rash appears as small raised dots.
One difference between shingles and other rashes is the pattern that develops. The shingles rash often develops in a pattern along the nerves of the chest and belly. A rash due to allergies or eczema may develop anywhere, including the legs and the arms. The shingles rash also tends to clear up in a few weeks. Rashes due to eczema and psoriasis may last longer. A shingles rash is also usually a lot more painful than other rashes.
The best way to work out if a rash is shingles is to see a doctor. In most cases, a doctor can make a diagnosis based on medical history, a physical exam, and symptoms.
Anyone who suspects they have shingles should consider seeing their healthcare provider. In some cases, medication is prescribed to speed recovery. Medications are most effective when taken within 72 hours of the rash appearing.
A virus called varicella zoster causes shingles. Varicella zoster virus also causes chickenpox , which used to be a common childhood illness before a vaccine was developed. Once a person is infected with chickenpox, the virus remains in their nervous system, even after they recover. Back to Health A to Z. Shingles is an infection that causes a painful rash. Get advice from as soon as possible if you think you have it. Usually you get the shingles rash on your chest and tummy, but it can appear anywhere on your body including on your face, eyes and genitals.
The rash appears as blotches on your skin, on 1 side of your body only. A rash on both the left and right of your body is unlikely to be shingles. You might need medicine to help speed up your recovery and avoid longer-lasting problems. They can arrange a phone call from a nurse or doctor if you need one. If you have a job, you can return to work once the blisters have dried up, or earlier if you keep the rash covered and feel well enough.
Similarly children with shingles can go to school if the rash is covered by clothes and the children do not feel unwell.
Pregnant women who have not had chickenpox should avoid people with shingles. See the separate leaflet called Chickenpox Contact in Pregnancy for more details. Also, if you have a poor immune system immunosuppression , you should avoid people with shingles. See below for a list of people who have a poor immune system. These general rules are to be on the safe side, as it is direct contact with the rash that usually passes on the virus.
This one is confusing! You can catch chickenpox from other people, but you can't catch shingles from other people. You only get shingles from a reactivation of your own chickenpox infection in the past. So if you have shingles, and you come into contact with somebody else, they cannot 'catch' your shingles. But if they have never had chickenpox, it is possible that they could catch chickenpox from you. And if you had chickenpox, and came into contact with somebody else who had never had chickenpox, they could catch chickenpox.
But they couldn't 'catch' shingles from your chickenpox. To put it another way, no, you don't 'catch' shingles. It comes from a virus hiding out in your own body, not from someone else.
But if you have shingles, you may be infectious, as it is possible for people to catch chickenpox from you. Only people who have never had chickenpox are likely to be at risk of catching chickenpox from your shingles. People who have had chickenpox should be immune from catching it again. If the rash is in a covered area of skin, the risk of anyone with whom you are not in close contact catching chickenpox is very low. Shingles is an infection of a nerve and the area of skin supplied by the nerve.
It is caused by a virus called the varicella-zoster virus. It is the same virus that causes chickenpox. Anyone who has had chickenpox in the past may develop shingles. Shingles is sometimes called herpes zoster. Note : this is very different to genital herpes which is caused by a different virus called herpes simplex.
About 1 in 4 people have shingles at some time in their lives. It can occur at any age but it is most common in older adults over the age of 50 years. After the age of 50, it becomes increasingly more common as you get older.
It is uncommon to have shingles more than once but some people do have it more than once. Most people have chickenpox at some stage usually as a child. The virus does not completely go after you have chickenpox.
Some virus particles remain inactive in the nerve roots next to your spinal cord. They do no harm there and cause no symptoms. For reasons that are not clear, the virus may begin to multiply again reactivate. This is often years later. The reactivated virus travels along the nerve to the skin to cause shingles.
In most cases, an episode of shingles occurs for no apparent reason. Sometimes a period of stress or illness seems to trigger it. A slight ageing of the immune system may account for it being more common in older people.
The immune system keeps the virus inactive and prevents it from multiplying.
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