#Shingles #affected
Often with great pain. Shingles is caused by the same pathogen as chickenpox. After infection, the varicella zoster virus remains in the body and becomes active again in the form of shingles in one in three people over the course of their life.
Most Austrians have heard of shingles before. However, how serious the disease can be is widely underestimated. One in three people will be affected by shingles over the course of their life. Up to a third of those affected experience postherpetic neuralgia, which is pain that can last for months or sometimes years. The effects on sleep, enjoyment of life, mood, ability to work or social life are correspondingly negative.
Self affected
Like most people, TV and radio presenter Martina Rupp was familiar with shingles, but her thoughts were far removed from her own life. When one day, very weak and exhausted, she also felt stabbing, burning sensations under her left armpit, she couldn’t explain what was wrong with her. No wonder that an impending heart attack came to mind as a possible cause. Her family doctor diagnosed her with shingles. The typical skin rash was also visible. Martina Rupp was in her late 50s at the time – and initially relieved to hear that it was “just” shingles and not a heart attack or breast cancer. But it wasn’t harmless. She had to take strong painkillers for six weeks and had to rely on help getting dressed and undressed. Since then, many people have told her surprisingly diverse illness stories.
Inform and educate
Today Martina Rupp is committed to talking about the disease that took her completely by surprise: “Shingles is a terrible disease. That’s how many they get. And so few people know exactly about it.” She wants to inform and educate with a podcast series. You can find this and other information at www.guertelrose-info.at
• Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which causes varicella – also known as varicella, chickenpox or sheep’s pox – when initially infected.
• After the virus has subsided, it remains in the nerve roots for life and can become active again. • Anyone who has ever had shingles can develop shingles later. Almost all (more than 99 percent of) adults aged 50 and over carry the varicella zoster virus.
• The usually painful nerve inflammation is usually accompanied by a vesicular rash that lasts two to four weeks and typically occurs on one side.
• Shingles occurs in all age groups. People over 50 are most commonly affected, as the performance of the immune system decreases with age and the virus can reactivate more easily.
• The risk of serious complications increases with increasing age.
• The Austrian vaccination plan recommends vaccination for all people aged 50 and over, and for people with a particularly high risk of shingles from the age of 18.
If you have any questions about your personal risk of shingles, please contact your doctor. With kind support from GSK. NP-AT-HZU-ADVR-240004 02/2024
