In the United States alone, there are an estimated 1 million cases of shingles a year, and one in three people can expected to develop the condition during their lifetime. One in five people who have shingles will develop post-herpetic neuralgia.
Some doctors only treat symptoms of shingles, such as pain, when the disease is diagnosed later than 72 hours after the rash develops. Pain relievers, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, for example), ibuprofen (Advil, for example), naproxen (Aleve), or tricyclic antidepressants are examples of some pain medications that may be used. Topical creams (for example, calamine lotion) may help reduce itching.
^ Brisson M, Edmunds WJ, Law B, et al. (2001). “Epidemiology of varicella zoster virus infection in Canada and the United Kingdom”. Epidemiol. Infect. 127 (2): 305–14. doi:10.1017/S0950268801005921. PMC 2869750 . PMID 11693508.
Several studies have investigated the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines in reducing the pain of nerve damage left over after shingles. Alternative approaches that seem to offer hope for managing long-term pain with few side effects include:
Older adults are most likely to develop shingles, which is why the shingles vaccine is recommended for people age 60 and older. Zostavax is currently the only vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent shingles. According to the CDC, the vaccine can reduce your risk of getting shingles by more than half, but the older you are the less effective the vaccine becomes. As a result, some people who get the vaccine may still get shingles. The ideal time for getting vaccinated is between 60 and 69 years old.
This is the most common complication. It is where the nerve pain (neuralgia) of shingles persists after the rash has gone. This problem is uncommon in people aged under 50. However, up to 1 in 5 people with shingles, over the age of 60, have pain that lasts more than a month. The older you are, the more likely it will occur. The pain usually eases gradually. However, in some people it lasts months, or even longer in a few cases.
The rash usually lasts about 10 to 15 days. During that time, a scaly crust might appear. Once the attack is over, the skin usually returns to normal, but there can be some scarring or a secondary bacterial infection in severe cases.
In historical shingles studies, shingles incidence generally increased with age. However, in his 1965 paper, Dr. Hope-Simpson suggested that the “peculiar age distribution of zoster may in part reflect the frequency with which the different age groups encounter cases of varicella and because of the ensuing boost to their antibody protection have their attacks of zoster postponed”.[19] Lending support to this hypothesis that contact with children with chickenpox boosts adult cell-mediated immunity to help postpone or suppress shingles, a study by Thomas et al. reported that adults in households with children had lower rates of shingles than households without children.[95] Also, the study by Terada et al. indicated that pediatricians reflected incidence rates from 1/2 to 1/8 that of the general population their age.[96]
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS): this device sends small electrical impulses through electrodes into the affected area. The TENS unit can be switched on or off depending on the level of pain experienced.
The first sign is usually a tingling feeling, itchiness, or stabbing pain on the skin. After a few days, a rash appears as a band or patch of raised dots on the side of the trunk or face. The rash develops into small, fluid-filled blisters which begin to dry out and crust over within several days. When the rash is at its peak, symptoms can range from mild itching to extreme and intense pain. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Shingles Information Page: NINDS)
Shingles is an outbreak of a rash or blisters on the that may be associated with severe pain. The pain is generally on one side of the body or face. (Source: excerpt from Facts About Shingles (Varicella-Zoster Virus): NIAID)
Hepatitis C infection is not a contraindication for either zoster vaccine. However, if someone with hepatitis C is receiving a medication that can cause immunosuppression, they should consult with their healthcare provider and consider delaying vaccination with ZVL or RZV until they have completed treatment.
A dose of varicella vaccine has 1,350 plaque forming units (PFUs) of varicella vaccine virus, MMRV contains 9,800 PFUs (7 times higher than varicella vaccine), and live zoster vaccine contains 19,400 PFUs (14 times higher than varicella vaccine) at the date of expiration. RZV does not contain live varicella zoster virus.
The Shingles Prevention Study, which included 40000 people over the age of 60 years, found that the vaccine reduced the incidence of shingles by 51.3{c7b83ef3f28a5a4d1b92af1005aa96857b6821a19c5bf7bda4f75f8b16806b7f}, the burden of illness from shingles by 61.1{c7b83ef3f28a5a4d1b92af1005aa96857b6821a19c5bf7bda4f75f8b16806b7f} and PHN by 66.5{c7b83ef3f28a5a4d1b92af1005aa96857b6821a19c5bf7bda4f75f8b16806b7f}. A subsequent study demonstrated that vaccination of individuals 50-59 years of age resulted in vaccine efficacy for the prevention of shingles of 69.8{c7b83ef3f28a5a4d1b92af1005aa96857b6821a19c5bf7bda4f75f8b16806b7f}. In both studies the vaccine was well tolerated.
Pregnant females who get shingles are not at as high a risk for viral complications as those pregnant females who become infected with chickenpox. However, if shingles develops within a few weeks of the delivery date, the infant may be at risk for viral complications, and the affected woman should notify her OB-GYN doctor immediately. In addition, shingles at any time during pregnancy may require special treatments; the OB-GYN physician needs to be contacted to help arrange individualized treatment plans.
So if you haven’t had chickenpox, talk to your doctor about getting vaccinated against it. And if you need more motivation, let it be known that adult chickenpox really is worse. Once you’re fully vaccinated, you can be around people with shingles without worrying about catching anything. And if you have shingles, it’s not a bad idea to give a heads up to anyone around you who may not have had the chickenpox virus or vaccine yet.
Yes. CDC’s General Best Practice Guidelines for Immunization advise that non-live vaccines, such as RZV, can be administered concomitantly, at different anatomic sites, with any other live or non-live vaccine. They should be given as separate injections, not combined in the same syringe.
Staphylococcus or Staph is a group of bacteria that can cause a multitude of diseases. Staph infections can cause illness directly by infection or indirectly by the toxins they produce. Symptoms and signs of a Staph infection include redness, swelling, pain, and drainage of pus. Minor skin infections are treated with an antibiotic ointment, while more serious infections are treated with intravenous antibiotics.