Shingles (Herpes Zoster)! Is it related to chickenpox (Varicella)?
Can you get shingles if you have had chickenpox?
Is shingles more common in winter?
Does shingles occur most often on the face?
Two out of three patients with shingles are said to be in their 50s or older.
Among them, it is said that you get shingles more easily when immunity is weakened.
Did you know that if you’ve had chickenpox as a child, you can get shingles?
Symptoms, prodromal symptoms of shingles, prevention methods, and etc.
Hanyang University Hospital will answer to various questions regarding shingles.
If you have chickenpox, can you get shingles?
In people who have had chickenpox or have been vaccinated against chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus remains dormant for life in the nerve ganglia.
Shingles is a disease in which the dormant virus divides again when the immune system is weakened and travels along the nerves, causing blisters on the skin.
Is it more common in winter?
Shingles occurs sporadically throughout the year regardless of the season. Risk factors include reduced cellular immunity, female, and trauma. Above all, old age is the strongest risk factor.
It is less contagious than chickenpox, but direct contact with someone with shingles can cause chickenpox until the blisters or pustules disappear completely.
Prodromal symptoms more common in the elderly?
Shingles is characterized by very intense pain and the appearance of blisters gathered in a band. For shingles, prodromal symptoms such as pain, paresthesia, and hypersensitivity appear about 4-5 days before the rash appears, and these prodromal symptoms are more common in older people.
Does shingles occur most often on the face?
Shingles occurs frequently on the chest (55%), face (20%), waist and legs (20%), and always occurs on one side without crossing the midline of the body.
If the blisters form around the eyes, you need to be extra careful because they can cause permanent vision loss. If the blisters form on the tip of your nose, this is a sign that you may also have shingles in your eyes.
The pain caused by shingles can last for more than a year?
Even after the skin lesion has healed, pain may persist in that area, which is called postherpetic pain.
It is the most common and most painful complication, and occurs in nearly half of patients over the age of 60. The pain may last for more than a year for one in three people with postherpetic pain.
Is there no shingles vaccine in Korea?
Recently, live attenuated vaccines and killed vaccines have been approved by the FDA and can be vaccinated in Korea.
In particular, in the case of inactivated vaccines, the preventive effect is good even in the elderly, so it is recommended to get vaccinated after appropriate consultation with a doctor.
True and false quiz on the rumors related to shingles
| Can you get shingles if you have chickenpox? | O |
| Does it happen more in winter? | X |
| Prodromal symptoms more common in older people? | O |
| Does shingles occur most often on the face? | X |
| Pain caused by shingles can last for more than a year? | O |
| Is there no shingles vaccine in Korea? | X |
Hanyang University Hospital
Professor Joo Min-sook, Dermatology
Medical field – hives, hair loss, scar treatment, cutaneous condition in the elderly (atopy, psoriasis, skin cancer in the elderly)
Click here to go to the website of Hanyang University Medical Centre.
