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The concept which you could “catch” shingles is without doubt one of the extra frequent misconceptions I hear from sufferers who arrive frightened they have it. Usually, they’ve lately been close to a baby with chickenpox or another person with shingles, and are understandably anxious they’ve picked it up.
As a GP, I encounter this misunderstanding on a regular basis. The truth is, a research from my very own College of Bristol discovered that whereas most sufferers had heard of shingles, few really understood what it’s.
Shingles is not one thing you catch from another person. It is the reactivation of a virus already inside your physique: the varicella zoster virus, the identical one which causes chickenpox. After you get better from chickenpox, the virus would not go away; it hides within the nerve cells that offer sensation to your pores and skin, mendacity dormant for years, typically many years. Shingles is what occurs when that virus “wakes up.”
When it reactivates, it causes clusters of small, fluid-filled blisters often called vesicles. Earlier than the rash seems, folks can really feel tingling, burning or ache in a single space of the physique—typically two or three days beforehand. The pores and skin can turn into unusually delicate, and also you would possibly really feel usually drained, feverish or unwell.
Shingles is frequent, affecting about 1 in 25 folks. It tends to comply with a attribute sample. The rash normally seems in a strip or band on one facet of the physique, similar to a dermatome (an space of pores and skin served by one spinal nerve). It is uncommon for shingles to look on each side of the physique.
The blisters ultimately burst, scab over and heal inside three to 4 weeks, typically leaving small scars. Till every blister has crusted, an individual with shingles is taken into account infectious, that means they will transmit the virus to others—however not in the way in which most individuals suppose.
1. You’ll be able to catch chickenpox from somebody with shingles
To develop shingles, it’s essential to have already got had chickenpox. For some sufferers although, chickenpox could be delicate or have occurred so way back that they could battle to recall having it.
When the shingles blisters burst, the fluid inside them accommodates the identical, reside varicella zoster virus. If somebody who has by no means had chickenpox (or hasn’t been vaccinated towards it) comes into direct contact with that fluid, they will turn into contaminated and develop chickenpox—however not shingles. Shingles solely happens when the dormant virus reawakens inside somebody who has already had chickenpox.
For that motive, folks with shingles ought to preserve their rash coated (with clothes or a non-adherent dressing) till all of the blisters have crusted over and healed.
It is essential to keep away from contact with anybody for whom chickenpox might be notably harmful. That features pregnant ladies—as varicella can typically trigger issues for the mom and will hurt the unborn child. New child infants, whose immune programs should not but robust sufficient to struggle the an infection are additionally in danger. Different sufferers with weakened immune programs (such because the aged, these present process chemotherapy or residing with circumstances like HIV) can also battle to struggle the virus. Chickenpox can turn into a extreme sickness in these folks, resulting in issues like pneumonia.
2. Shingles can happen at any age
Though shingles turns into extra seemingly as we age, it could happen at any time after you’ve got had chickenpox—even in younger adults or kids. It is extra frequent when the immune system is weakened, which might occur with age, and in folks receiving chemotherapy or different immunosuppressive therapies.
3. It could actually have an effect on extra than simply your torso
Most circumstances seem on the chest or again, however shingles can happen anyplace on the physique, together with the face, limbs and even the genitals. When it impacts the face, it could contain the eyes by way of nerve branches that stretch there. This kind, often called ophthalmic herpes, can threaten imaginative and prescient and trigger blindness if not handled promptly. It could actually additionally have an effect on the facial nerve which controls your facial muscle mass—in any other case often called Ramsay Hunt syndrome.
Some folks develop ache, tingling, or sensitivity with no seen rash. The looks of shingles may also differ by pores and skin tone, making it tougher to identify in darker pores and skin.
4. Early therapy helps
For those who suspect shingles, see a clinician promptly. Antiviral medicines may help shorten restoration time and scale back issues, however they work finest when began inside 48–72 hours of the rash showing.
Sure teams, together with younger, pregnant and breastfeeding sufferers, folks with weakened immune programs and anybody with shingles affecting the face, nostril, eyes (together with the attention’s floor) or any visible adjustments, ought to positively search medical consideration urgently.
5. The story would not all the time finish when the rash heals
For some, shingles may cause issues even after the seen rash clears. Open blisters can turn into contaminated with micro organism, typically requiring antibiotics. The virus may also harm close by nerves, resulting in post-herpetic neuralgia—persistent nerve ache that may final for months and even years after the pores and skin has healed. It could actually really feel like burning, stabbing or throbbing ache in the identical space the place the rash appeared.
Sadly, shingles can return once more, typically in a distinct a part of the physique. The shingles vaccine considerably reduces each the chance of growing shingles and the prospect of long-term nerve ache like post-herpetic neuralgia, although it would not take away the chance solely.
Consider shingles not as one thing you “catch,” however as one thing that may get up once more inside your personal physique. It is a reminder that viruses do not all the time go away once we suppose they do. And that defending your self and others means recognizing the indicators early, overlaying the rash, and getting immediate medical recommendation.
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Are you able to catch shingles? A GP explains what folks get improper about this frequent virus (2025, October 14)
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