Shingles

You can only get shingles after you have already had chickenpox. Shingles is not a new infection but rather a new outbreak of a previous chickenpox infection.

After you have had chickenpox, the varicella zoster virus stays in your nerve cells. The virus can be dormant (inactive) for many years.

If the virus becomes active again, it typically presents as shingles.

It is thought that in many people, shingles may be triggered by stressful events such as illness or grief.

It is rare to have more than one outbreak of shingles.

Can you spread shingles?

It is not possible to catch shingles from someone experiencing a shingles outbreak.

If you have not not previously had chickenpox and touch the fluid within blisters that appear in someone with shingles, (for example by hugging them) you could end up with chickenpox.

Unlike chickenpox, the virus is not airborne and cannot be spread by coughing and sneezing.

People over the age of 50 are most at risk. It is rare for someone under 12 to get shingles, but it is a common health condition in older people, especially if you are over 80.

Shingles is also more common in people with a poor immune system resulting from other medical conditions.

Shingles is an infection of a nerve area, so the associated pain and rash will run along a band of skin supplied by the affected nerve.

The pain is due to infection of the nerve caused by the virus. This pain can range from tingling to very severe pain.

A rash will develop within 5 days from the start of the pain. The rash will look similar to a chickenpox rash, except a shingles rash is only found on one area of the body (it runs in a band along nerve supply).

The rash could form as a band around your rib cage, abdomen, face or forehead, or down an arm or a leg (although this is less common). Spots will appear and then turn into blisters, which will dry up to form a crust or scab over the top.

Complications

• The pain caused by shingles can persist for many weeks or even months. This is called postherpetic neuralgia.
• Blisters can become further infected, which could be severe and lead to scarring.

If you have shingles on your face or forehead, the cornea of your eye can also be damaged.

If you have any of these symptoms, and have had chickenpox before, see your doctor for a diagnosis.

Notifiable disease

Shingles is a notifiable disease. This means doctors, hospitals and laboratories must inform the Department of Health of your diagnosis to assist the Department in determining the frequency of this infection in the community. Notification is confidential.

Anti-viral medications, such as acyclovir, can help in the treatment of shingles if they are taken in the early stages of the infection.

The medication reduces the healing time of blisters, stops the new blisters developing and shortens the length of time a person might spend in pain.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about preparations you can apply to relieve pain.

Vaccination is a safe and effective way to protect against shingles in most people. Anyone who wants to protect themselves against shingles can talk to their immunisation provider about getting vaccinated.

The vaccine is free for certain at risk groups.

If you are not eligible to receive the free vaccine, you may need to purchase the vaccine privately.

Learn more about the shingles vaccine.

Chickenpox is a vaccine preventable disease. If you get vaccinated against chickenpox you can protect yourself against getting shingles.