It’s another interesting night in the ER. My nurses are hounding me because there’s a patient with a rash, and they don’t know what it is. They’re so good that they rarely get stumped, and they get excited when they are. The patient had a pretty impressive cluster of little blisters called vesicles (see the picture above) under one eye with significant reddening of the skin under the cluster. Unknown to them, their problem with this patient is she’s African-American. Many healthcare professionals have difficulty identifying common rashes in dark-skinned individuals.
I wonder if any of you haven’t had chickenpox. That’s a question that never would have been asked a few decades ago. Chickenpox is caused by the Varicella Zoster virus, which is one of the Herpes viruses (No not that one; we’ll discuss that next week.). Repeat infections or reactivation of the virus that went dormant inside of you causes shingles. When I was younger, no one ever got shingles because no one got chickenpox twice. Chickenpox was something you got as a child, and when you contracted it, everyone in the neighborhood would bring the kids by so everyone could get it and be done with it. The first case of shingles I actually remember seeing was during residency in a HIV+ patient who actually died from it (Herpes Zoster pneumonia; I was told it happened to the elderly or patients with lowered immunity).
Then an odd thing happened. A chickenpox vaccine came out. Chickenpox started being seen in older individuals, because all the kids were immunized, and the loss of the ‘herd immunity’ phenomenon allowed some individuals to sneak by without getting chickenpox as a child, only to develop it at an older age. Then shingles started being seen more often.
The shingles rash is classically a group of lesions stretched around a single dermatome (an area of skin corresponding to the distribution a specific nerve root), usually in the abdomen or back, but seen with some frequency on the face and involving the nose and around the eyes. Infection begins with general nonspecific symptoms like headache, light sensitivity, pain, itching and burning in the area a few days before the rash appears. The pain should be emphasized, as it can last for a year after the rash (which typically lasts for 2-4 weeks). Amazingly 30 out of 100 Americans will now develop this illness at some point in their lives.
Anyone who has had chickenpox may get shingles. However, you can now get a shingles vaccine, which serves two purposes: it may prevent shingles, but if it doesn’t it can make the episode less painful. If you’re 50, you can get vaccinated, and it can cut the risk of contracting shingles in half. Please discuss this with your physician. If you’re eligible, you’ll thank me; if you don’t get vaccinated and contract shingles, you’ll wish you had.
Quick Tips:
- If you have never had chickenpox and have never gotten the chickenpox vaccine, avoid contact with people who have shingles or chickenpox. Fluid from blisters in both conditions is contagious and can cause chickenpox in these groups.
- If you have shingles, avoid close contact with people until after the rash blisters heal.
- Certain people are at heightened risk from chickenpox and shingles, including anyone pregnant, elderly, ill or with a diminished immune system.
I welcome your questions, comments or stories. For the sports fans out there, this pictorial trivia question shouldn’t be hard to answer? Who’s this famous manager pictured here with shingles?
Tony La Russa
We have a winner! That was kind of easy, though.
If someone has shingles they can give someone chicken pox or shingles?
Yes and no, in that order. The blisters/vesicles in patients with shingles can give chickenpox someone who hasn’t been immunized or hasn’t contracted an initial varicella infection. As a rule, shingles is the second disease and is more typically a reactivation of the first infection than a new one. Shingles is defined by its dermatomal distribution, which occurs from reactivation of the virus that had been dormant in a single nerve. That reactivation is limited to the distribution of that nerve root. Conversely, a second chickenpox infection wouldn’t be confined to this same distribution. Thanks for the question.
A second chickenpox infection????!!!!! You can get it twice????!!!!! Or, are we talking about shingles?????!!!!!!!!!
Hi, Stephanie. A second varicella zoster infection may be either chickenpox (not likely but I’ve seen several) or shingles (much more likely).
OK, I may be repeating an earlier question, but here goes. I never had chickenpox, but had measles a couple of times. My mother had shingles when we were both adult. I remember applying compresses and ointments to her back; I never contracted the disease, but was exposed. I have not had the shingles virus. So, the question is, can I still get shingles, even thought I have not had chickenpox?
Hi Annette. Great question. Odds are, if you were exposed, you contracted a mild case of chickenpox. I would bet that you could get shingles. I would recommend you discuss with your physician getting the shingles vaccine.
I meant, “I have not had the shingles vaccine.”
Understood.
I have never had the chickenpox. Should I be concerned about Shingles ? Is the Shingles vaccine only for those who have had chickenpox? What if any concerns are there, for people who a developmental disabilities and who live in a group sitting?
What causes a reactivation?
Hi, Darla. Assuming you’ve actually never had chickenpox (but been received the chickenpox vaccine), you wouldn’t get shingles. That said, many individuals may have been sufficiently exposed to chickenpox that they had a subclinical infection (i.e. a flu-like illness that you wouldn’t have even recognized as chickenpox) and didn’t know it. In this case, your potential next Varicella Zoster illness very well may be shingles.
The indications for the shingles vaccine are
1) Age 50 or older
2) Prior chickenpox infection
It is not indicated for prevention of chickenpox or for treatment of either chickenpox or shingles. It should not be used in individuals allergic to any of the components of the vaccine. It can exacerbate asthma or congestive heart failure.
You should discuss appropriateness of this vaccine with your primary care provider.
Reactivations are really causes by circumstances that lower your immune system. Examples of these include severe acute illness or injury or recent stress, recent surgery/organ transplant, being on chemotherapy or radiotherapy or age 50 or older. Certain chronic illnesses like HIV, lupus and diabetes also may promote reactivation. Thanks for the questions.