Shingles is a condition that can affect all age groups

Date: 2/3/2017

GREATER SPRINGFIELD – There’s ads about its debilitating effects – and the vaccine that’s supposed to prevent it – on TV nearly every night. But shingles – a blistering rash caused by the reemergence of the chickenpox virus – is not just an old person’s problem. As articles about rashes in magazines such as the January issue of Health have shown, this illness can crop up in younger people too, if conditions are right.

According to information on the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) website, nearly one out of every three people will develop shingles in their lifetime. Though most sufferers are 50 years of age or older – your immune system weakens with age – it’s possible for even children to come down with shingles. And, according to the CDC, though shingles is a one-time illness for most people, it is possible to have the pain and blisters return a second, or even a third time.

The CDC also notes that the incidence of shingles among the U.S. adult population seems to be increasing, without a clear explanation.

Dr. Vincent Meoli, regional medical director for AFC Urgent Care clinics, which has locations in Springfield and West Springfield, said regardless of age the appearance of shingles – caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus that initially causes chickenpox– can be traced to the same scenario.

“It happens in most age groups for the same reason. Shingles is brought on by a weakened immune system, and whenever someone is sick or run down for whatever reason, they have a risk of developing it,” Meoli said. It is more prevalent in older populations, he added because “as we get older, we all tend to get sicker.”

Meoli said data on the effects of the chickenpox vaccine – which received FDA approval and became widely available in 1995 – seems to indicate those who received it may have a better chance of avoiding shingles, but the jury is still out.

Is it shingles?

Meoli said people often feel like they are “coming down with something” in the initial phase of a shingles outbreak, followed by “pain, or a sensation of numbness or pins and needles in one part of the body,” usually the arm or the back.

“It’s not unusual for people to present with pain … and come in a few days later and have developed the rash,” Meoli said.

That rash, usually limited to one side of the body, is characterized by multiple small blisters. There are few treatment options, though Meoli said anti-viral medications could shorten the duration of the illness. In most cases the rash clears on its own within 10 to 15 days, though there are instances where sufferers have to cope with the blisters and pain for up to a month. The more serious cases of shingles, where the rash develops near the eye or ear, trigger a need for follow up care by a specialist, Meoli added.

However for 10 to 40 percent of patients, the suffering doesn’t end when the rash goes away, Meoli said. The most troubling complication of a traditional shingles outbreak is post herpetic neuralgia, or lingering pain. There are “a few different medicines” that can be used to help lessen this post-rash pain, including drugs dedicated to nerve pain, and certain seizure medications.

What about the shingles shot?

Meoli said the shingles vaccine, which contains a live attenuated virus, is beneficial for anyone age 50 or older that contracted chickenpox as a child. Those who receive the vaccine and do contract shingles usually have a milder case. The vaccine, he added “is most beneficial for people who are 60 to 65” as “a couple of studies show anyone over 60 will have a 50 percent reduction in contracting shingles” following inoculation.