Shingles can be contagious and can be spread to anyone including babies, children, or adults who've not had the chickenpox. These individuals will not develop shingles, but will develop the chicken pox instead. Once someone has had the chickenpox, they cannot catch shingles (or the virus) from a person suffering from them. Once you've had the chicken pox, you have the potential to advance into shingles later on in life. Shingles is a blistery skin rash caused by nerve and skin inflammation and is in the herpes family of viruses called varicella zoster virus (VZV). After someone has the chickenpox, this virus lives dormant within the nervous system and can be woken up by various causes.
Under certain situations, such as stress, weakness in your immune system (such as from AIDS or chemotherapy), or cancer, the virus will wake up and causes shingles. In almost all cases, however, the cause for waking up the virus is never found. Anyone who has ever had the chickenpox can be at risk for the progression of shingles, although it's most common occurrence is among people over the age of 60. The estimated occurrence of shingles is up to 1,000,000 cases each year in the U.S. Some of the signs of shingles are flu like symptoms such as head ache, fever and nausea.
Sometimes the symptoms of shingles; headache, fever, and nausea may last for several days where the rash and blisters can last for weeks. The itching and pain can sometimes last several weeks after the rash is healed. Other symptoms of the shingles may be a loss in energy levels and sudden chills.
The development of tiny blisters will begin to appear on one side of the body and start to stretch across to the outer portion of the body. Shingles will follow the nerve starting from the spinal area, and will remain only within the one nerve passage. Once you start seeing the initial signs it is extremely important to seek immediate medical attention. By seeking medical attention and taking medication, the duration and severity can be lessened.
If you don't go to the doctor immediately you could develop what's known as chronic neuralgia. This is an extremely painful illness. It occurs when shingles have come to the final stages. There will still be incredible pain even if you don't see a rash. If you want to prevent this from happening then it would be a good idea to go and see the doctor whenever you start getting symptoms. If you find that you are still in pain even after you have been treated you may be developing what's known as post herpetic neuralgia. The pain experienced has been described as beyond bearable.
Shingles are not always contagious at all stages of the condition. Only during certain phases can shingles be passed on to someone else. This is when the blisters are at their peak and may be bright red and oozing. Individuals who have not had the chicken pox need to avoid touching the blisters at this stage. It is best that individuals who have not had chicken pox avoid anyone with shingles until the rash starts to heal and dry up.
Shingles will lay dormant until something wakes it up. That something is usually someone is under a great deal of stress or whose immune system is not working effectively. There are some individuals who have come down with shingles with a healthy immune system and under very little stress. Sometimes it just wakes up. A healthy, stress free person with a healthy immune system is the best defense against shingles and they will not be infected with shingles easily. It was mostly thought that seniors have a higher chance of getting shingles, but now anyone at any age could contract them. The reason seniors may be more susceptible to shingles is that they usually are on medications that hurt their immune system.
Thousands of individuals each month contract shingles and with it the people around them want to know, are shingles contagious? As stated above, if you are a healthy person and are relatively stress free and have already had chicken pox, then the chances of contracting shingles from someone infected with them is almost nil. However, to be on the save side, it's probably best to try and avoid touching the blisters of someone with shingles when they are in the full blown stage.
Under certain situations, such as stress, weakness in your immune system (such as from AIDS or chemotherapy), or cancer, the virus will wake up and causes shingles. In almost all cases, however, the cause for waking up the virus is never found. Anyone who has ever had the chickenpox can be at risk for the progression of shingles, although it's most common occurrence is among people over the age of 60. The estimated occurrence of shingles is up to 1,000,000 cases each year in the U.S. Some of the signs of shingles are flu like symptoms such as head ache, fever and nausea.
Sometimes the symptoms of shingles; headache, fever, and nausea may last for several days where the rash and blisters can last for weeks. The itching and pain can sometimes last several weeks after the rash is healed. Other symptoms of the shingles may be a loss in energy levels and sudden chills.
The development of tiny blisters will begin to appear on one side of the body and start to stretch across to the outer portion of the body. Shingles will follow the nerve starting from the spinal area, and will remain only within the one nerve passage. Once you start seeing the initial signs it is extremely important to seek immediate medical attention. By seeking medical attention and taking medication, the duration and severity can be lessened.
If you don't go to the doctor immediately you could develop what's known as chronic neuralgia. This is an extremely painful illness. It occurs when shingles have come to the final stages. There will still be incredible pain even if you don't see a rash. If you want to prevent this from happening then it would be a good idea to go and see the doctor whenever you start getting symptoms. If you find that you are still in pain even after you have been treated you may be developing what's known as post herpetic neuralgia. The pain experienced has been described as beyond bearable.
Shingles are not always contagious at all stages of the condition. Only during certain phases can shingles be passed on to someone else. This is when the blisters are at their peak and may be bright red and oozing. Individuals who have not had the chicken pox need to avoid touching the blisters at this stage. It is best that individuals who have not had chicken pox avoid anyone with shingles until the rash starts to heal and dry up.
Shingles will lay dormant until something wakes it up. That something is usually someone is under a great deal of stress or whose immune system is not working effectively. There are some individuals who have come down with shingles with a healthy immune system and under very little stress. Sometimes it just wakes up. A healthy, stress free person with a healthy immune system is the best defense against shingles and they will not be infected with shingles easily. It was mostly thought that seniors have a higher chance of getting shingles, but now anyone at any age could contract them. The reason seniors may be more susceptible to shingles is that they usually are on medications that hurt their immune system.
Thousands of individuals each month contract shingles and with it the people around them want to know, are shingles contagious? As stated above, if you are a healthy person and are relatively stress free and have already had chicken pox, then the chances of contracting shingles from someone infected with them is almost nil. However, to be on the save side, it's probably best to try and avoid touching the blisters of someone with shingles when they are in the full blown stage.
About the Author:
Author: Phil Adler can provide help with the facts about the shingle virus and are shingles contagious. Receive more information about shingles and shingles pain relief from his website.. Unique version for reprint here: Are You Wondering - Are Shingles Contagious?.
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