21st Century Business Herald reporter Han Liming reported from Shanghai
On the evening of June 28, in the competition of "Singer 2024", singer Na Ying only wore makeup on half of her face, and the host He Jiong explained to the audience, "That sister (Na Ying) was infected with shingles two days ago, this is very painful, she knows that it was fine yesterday, but it was a little serious this morning, so she called me and said, 'It's annoying, it doesn't grow on the back and arms, it grows on the face, and it grows in my ......eyes'." ”
Subsequently, entries such as "Naying eye shingles" and "Naying shingles" quickly appeared on Weibo hot searches.
Many netizens shared their experience of suffering from shingles or their relatives on social platforms, "My dad tossed back and forth for more than a month when he was older, and anesthesia couldn't relieve the pain, and he had to go to block the nerve to endure it, and it took nearly a year to slowly raise it", "The trigeminal nerve area, the most fatal place, has herpes zoster said that it hurts and pulls his head, and even the neck lymph nodes hurt", "(Shingles) is really easy to recur, as long as the immunity is low, it is easy to recur"......
Some netizens also expressed their questions, "Is shingles contagious?" ”
Not long ago, Cai Guoqing, who was certified as a "singer" on Weibo, also suffered from shingles due to weakened immunity, and published a long post on Weibo on June 14 to bid farewell to the recording of "This is My Island".
What is the "shingles" that has often topped Weibo's hot searches recently? How painful is shingles? Is it contagious? And how to deal with it?
Is it contagious?
Herpes zoster, commonly known as "loincloth", is an infectious skin disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The virus manifests itself as a disease at different times.
In childhood, chickenpox is usually contracted after being infected with the varicella-zoster virus. After chickenpox has recovered, the virus remains dormant in the body. More than 90% of adults have the varicella-zoster virus in their bodies. As we age, our immune system declines and the virus reactivates to cause shingles.
A clinical expert told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, "There are data at home and abroad that show that people over 50 years old are prone to it, and the older they are, the more likely they are to suffer from herpes zoster, and the condition is more serious." In addition, being affected by emotions such as anxiety, suffering from other diseases, and long-term use of immunosuppressants can also reduce resistance, which can lead to the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus to cause shingles. ”
Age is the most important risk factor for shingles. With the increase of age, the physiological and metabolic functions and immune functions of various tissues and organs of the elderly gradually decay, and there are often chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases, etc., and the risk of infectious diseases such as pneumonia, influenza, and herpes zoster increases significantly. Compared with the general population, patients with chronic diseases have an increased risk of herpes zoster by 24%~41%.
"Once a person with chronic diseases is infected, it may lead to the aggravation of pre-existing chronic diseases, adverse clinical health outcomes and even an increase in the risk of death, and increase the consumption of medical resources. In the case of diabetes, for example, when a diabetic patient gets shingles, it becomes more difficult to control blood sugar. The above-mentioned clinical expert said.
According to publicly available information, about 1/3 of people will develop shingles in their lifetime. At present, there are about 1.56 million new cases of herpes zoster in people over 50 years old in mainland China every year, which affects the quality of life of patients and increases the economic burden on families and society.
It is worth noting that Zheng Yongjun, director of the pain department of Huadong Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, once publicly reminded that "the season that is prone to colds is actually the season when she is prone to shingles." For example, when the seasons change from winter to spring and autumn to winter, the change of seasons is the time when the immune function is at its lowest, and it is also the time when shingles is prone to occur. ”
Is shingles contagious? According to an article on the official website of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, "(chickenpox and shingles) are both caused by the same virus, so they will be contagious." However, shingles is much less contagious than chickenpox, which is transmitted through respiratory tract infections and blister fluid. It is usually transmitted through repeated contact with the fluid in the blisters because of the presence of the virus in the blisters. In general, children with weakened immunity can be infected after exposure, but the chance of this is relatively low. Adults are mostly more immune, so they are not susceptible to infection even if they come into contact with it. ”
Peking Union Medical College Hospital also issued a document showing that, in general, compared with chickenpox, VZV (varicella-zoster virus) in people with shingles is much less contagious, but it is still infectious (the virus is transmitted through droplets or contact with skin lesions). Lesions are also contagious until they crust over.
Tertiary prevention of shingles
Shingles can cause erythema or clusters of blisters that usually occur on one side of the body and line up along a peripheral nerve area. In addition to causing skin damage, shingles can also affect the nerves, which can cause severe pain, such as burning, electric shock, knife stabbing in the acute stage, and some patients may even last for months or even life, which is unbearable, leading to a series of problems such as anxiety, depression, poor concentration, sleep disorders, etc.
Fan Bifa, director of the pain department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, once explained, "The neuralgia of herpes zoster can vary with the location of the herpes infection, such as the infection to the head and face, the toes, and even the perineum. In particular, the pain of herpes zoster caused by the trigeminal nerve area of the head and face is the most intense, and this pain is the most difficult to cure and can easily cause many complications. ”
Zheng Yongjun pointed out that "some patients suffering from herpes zoster have developed a type of postherpetic neuralgia called protracted postherpetic neuralgia due to untimely treatment or improper treatment. (I) have encountered the longest patient pain for more than 20 years, some patients have numb and itchy skin, and some severe patients do not dare to touch their clothes at all, such pain is seriously affecting the patient's life. ”
Public data show that 30%~50% of patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) have pain for more than 1 year, and some can be up to 10 years. Some patients with chronic diseases feel more pain after getting shingles. In addition, shingles places a heavy burden on the healthcare system and society. According to statistics, up to 57% of patients are absent from work for an average of 9.1 days due to the disease.
How to effectively prevent shingles? Cui Yong, Vice President and Director of the Department of Dermatology of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, emphasized, "Multidisciplinary linkage is now advocated. There is a tertiary prevention for shingles, and the primary prevention is not to get sick, improve resistance, strengthen nutrition, exercise moderately, and avoid fatigue; Secondary prevention is early diagnosis and early treatment; Tertiary prevention refers to the reduction of sequelae after shingles, which also involves the management of the whole process and the standardized management of pain. ”
It is reported that the current efficacy of postherpetic neuralgia is relatively limited. Pain can also further reduce the patient's resistance and prolong the course of the disease. Therefore, turning passive treatment into active prevention and moving the threshold of disease management forward is the key means to stay away from the "pain of skin cutting".
Among them, the methods to prevent herpes zoster include: improving one's own resistance, eating a balanced diet, exercising moderately, and active immune prevention through vaccination. According to the latest research data from the 2023 ZOSTER-076 clinical trial, the recombinant herpes zoster vaccine has 100% protective efficacy in Chinese adults aged 50 years and older. In addition, in the long-term follow-up phase III clinical trial of ZOSTER-049 announced in April this year, the recombinant shingles vaccine was shown to be protective for up to 11 years.
It is worth noting that the elderly, especially those with chronic diseases, need to consult professional doctors for scientific vaccination on the three main contents of the vaccine: applicable age, protective efficacy, and contraindications before vaccination.
For more information, please download the 21 Finance APP