Vaccination against shingles
You can
prevent shingles with a vaccination. Since 2018, the Standing Vaccination
Commission (STIKO) has recommended a vaccination against shingles for everyone
over the age of 60. Anyone who suffers from an underlying disease or
immune deficiency should be vaccinated against shingles from the age of 50.
In
Germany, two vaccines against shingles are approved for people aged 50 and
over: a live vaccine and a dead vaccine. However, the live herpes zoster
vaccine has limited effectiveness and is not recommended for the standard
vaccination against shingles. In addition, it is not suitable for people
with a weakened immune system. The STIKO therefore recommends a dead
vaccine as the standard vaccination for vaccination against shingles. This
vaccine is given in two doses over a period of two to a maximum of six months.
Shingles: These symptoms are
typical
General
malaise, burning pain in the chest, followed by red spots that spread like a
ribbon and gradually turn into small blisters - if you recognize these
symptoms, you probably have shingles. This painful rash is triggered
by a virus . It is the same pathogen
that is responsible for chickenpox :
varicella zoster. Since this is one of the herpes viruses, shingles is
also called herpes zoster or just zoster in technical jargon. The disease
got the name shingles because it spreads like a belt around the body: first in
the form of red spots, then mostly small, fluid-filled blisters develop.
The
first signs of shingles are usually fairly
general. Many of those affected initially feel a bit exhausted and ill,
experience a slight fever and aching limbs. It
might as well be the flu . After a day or two,
however, patients with shingles develop pain - and severe. In this phase
of the shingles you will feel itching, possibly also a burning sensation.
The course of the disease over
time
This
shingles-typical pain lasts between three and five days . During
this time, the viruses penetrate the cells and cause the characteristic
shingles rash: First, red spots appear, which usually wrap around the body like
the eponymous belt and which a doctor can use to detect shingles with the naked
eye. After a days or two, they turn into small vesicles that are filled
with fluid. In contrast to chickenpox, both spots and blisters are
localized and only show up in the area that the affected nerve supplies.
Shingles and chickenpox: same
trigger, different disease
Shingles
is a secondary infection. This means that it can only develop if the
person affected has already had chickenpox. Chickenpox and shingles
have the same trigger , but they express themselves
differently: Chickenpox in small "pimples" that itch a lot and spread
over the entire body, shingles in water-filled blisters that are limited to one
area of the body.
While
chickenpox is a typical childhood disease, shingles occurs mainly in adults . Whether shingles is contagious
or not depends on the individual medical history: Although the disease is
infectious in itself, anyone who has ever had chickenpox is immune to shingles
under normal circumstances. Those who have never had chickenpox get
chickenpox from the shingles virus, not zoster.
Caution:
Even if it itches, do not scratch the blisters! Once you have the liquid
and thus the shingles virus in hand, you can quickly infect those around you by
touching it. In addition, scars can form.
Where do the shingles symptoms
occur?
Shingles
usually occurs on the chest or abdomen ,
and almost always on one side. That is, the rash does
not exceed the core of the body. In principle, however, the disease can
occur almost anywhere on the body: Some get shingles on the leg, especially on
the thigh, while others get shingles on the arm. The blisters from
shingles can also form on the neck or scalp. Shingles on the head occurs
when the viruses are in the cranial nerve. Shingles is more difficult to
spot without a rash, which can also occur. Experts refer to this form as
zoster sine herpete. Shingles without pain, on the other hand, is
practically non-existent. Exception: the doctor discovers and treats it at
a very early stage, in which it has not yet fully broken through.
Shingles complications
Shingles
in children is less common than in adults, but it does happen. Smaller
children usually have fewer blisters. If the children are otherwise
healthy, the disease will usually go well and the rash will heal without
scarring. Provided that the parents make sure that the offspring does not
scratch too much.
Adults with shingles usually have a more difficult time; some complications can
occur here - and they do so more often than in children. For example, the
affected area can become inflamed (superinfection)
and the skin can become permanently discolored or scarred.
In addition, shingles on the scalp or in the facial area in general can cause paralysisappear. The shingles virus can blind
those affected in the eye nerves. A very unpleasant consequence of
shingles, which occurs particularly often in patients over the age of 50, is
so-called post-therapeutic neuralgia. This means that the severe nerve pain persists for several weeks or months
after you have overcome shingles.
Shingles: causes of the disease
If the
varicella viruses are up to mischief in the body for the first time, chickenpox
occurs. Small red spots and pimple-like bumps form, which are very itchy,
all over the skin, sometimes even on the mucous membranes. As if the
viruses hadn't bothered you enough, they don't go away with chickenpox after
the disease subsides. Rather, they nestle in the nerve nodes around the
spinal cord during the illness - and they stay there even after the chickenpox
has long since survived.
Usually they behave quietly there, and for some people they no longer cause
problems for a lifetime. Others develop shingles. The reason for this
have not been conclusively clarified. However, experts believe, for
example, disorders of the body's own defense mechanisms are possible: If the
immune system is weakened, it can no longer keep the viruses in
check. Shingles develops. Also, stress or certain
medications that suppress the immune system, may well lead to the viruses that
multiply and invade the nerve cells.
Shingles: contagion
People
with weakened immune systems and older people aged 50 and over are particularly
at risk. But even younger adults, children and adolescents are not immune
to shingles.
Shingles: incubation period
The
incubation period for shingles, i.e. the duration from the infection to the
point in time at which the disease becomes noticeable, cannot be precisely
determined for shingles. In the case of chickenpox, it is an average of 14
to 16 days, but it can also pass as little as eight or up to 28 days.
Shingles: how long contagious
How long
shingles is contagious can also not be poured into an exact time frame. In
general, there is a risk of infection with shingles until the blisters are
encrusted.
The highly contagious chickenpox viruses are transmitted by means of droplet
infection, which means that they get into the air by speaking, breathing or
coughing, where other people breathe them. Shingles, on the other hand, is
usually transmitted via smear infection, i.e. when the highly infectious
vesicle fluid is passed on through body contact.
Shingles: this is how the
treatment works
The doctor can usually make the shingles diagnosis
based on the typical symptoms, so that specific diagnostics (e.g. in the
laboratory) are only necessary under special conditions. This applies to
cases with atypical clinical pictures, shingles during pregnancy or if other
diseases such as diseases of the central nervous system or pneumonia are ( or could be) present.
If shingles treatment is started at an early stage,
the chances are good that the condition will clear up within two to four
weeks. The duration of the treatment itself is around a week. In
general, however, the duration of treatment for shingles depends on how severe
the symptoms are and whether there are co-morbidities or
complications. Usually two-thirds of shingles cases are completely cured.
How the doctor treats shingles
Doctors use different methods to treat
shingles. It is not uncommon for several treatment to be used at the same time.
- Stopping
Viruses: In some cases, the doctor may need to
prescribe antiviral drugs. This happens especially if the patient is
older than 50 years, if the shingles sprouts on the head, if there is an
immunodeficiency or if the shingles is severe. The drugs are supposed
to stop the virus growth. The faster the tablets are used, the more
effective they are. Experts recommend starting antiviral treatment
within 72 hours.
- Caring
for the skin : In the case of shingles, disinfecting
powders are intended to prevent bacteria from settling in the affected
skin areas. There are also lotions and gels that are supposed to
relieve the itching of shingles or to dry out the blisters. Cool,
damp compresses can also do good if the shingles blisters itch and hurt.
- Relieve
pain: In acute pain, the doctor also
prescribes medication for shingles to relieve the pain. Often, even
non-prescription drugs such as aspirin or paracetamol are sufficient.
- Treat
secondary diseases: In the case of post-therapeutic
neuralgia, the doctor can supplement the therapy with pain therapy,
anticonvulsants, antidepressants or alternative treatment methods such as
acupuncture.
Techcrunchpro thepinkcharm themarketinginfo worldmarketingtips technologybeam
