On the evening of the 28th, in the "Singer 2024" competition, #那英哭了# was on the hot search, and Na Ying covered half of her face on stage during the competition. ”
So what is shingles? In fact, it has many nicknames, one is more scary than the other, "Waist Wrapping Fire Pill", "Waist Wrapping Fire Dragon", "Snake Wrapping Waist", "Snake String Sores", "Raw Snake", ...... These names can not only make people frightened, but at least they can send chills down their backs.
Ordinary people know the disease of shingles, generally for several reasons, one is the scary names above, and the other is that she knows that shingles is very painful.
So, what does real shingles look like? Is it harmful and is it contagious? How can it be prevented? In this article, we'll take you through an in-depth look at shingles, and discuss important information about its harms, preventative measures, and how it spreads.
How harmful is shingles?
There are many skin diseases that cause people to worry, such as the fear that melanoma will be fatal, such as the fear that shingles will be painful. In fact, the harm of shingles can be very large or small.
The reason why this is said is because the health effects of shingles vary greatly from person to person. Here are some of the more minor effects:
· Erythema and blisters on the skin generally heal within 7~10 days.
· There is a certain degree of paresthesia, such as itching, tingling, and hot sensation, which are all manifestations of inflammation of the peripheral nerves, which is medically called "acute neuritis".
If you have a normal immune function and you are young, most of the time it is not a big problem. If it is serious, it can also be serious, such as:
· Acute neuritis has severe symptoms, such as electric shock-like pain, which seriously affects short-term normal life.
· Neuralgia lasts for a long time, more than 90 days, to the point where it becomes a sequelae and the quality of life is greatly reduced. Among them, there are 6% of people who will have pain for more than 1 year!
· There are other complications, that is, not just ordinary rashes and neuritis; Complications can include blisters in the eye, retinal necrosis, ear pain, bacterial infection, inflammation of the head and meninges, and more.
Fortunately, the above serious situations are still relatively rare, and ordinary people do not need to worry too much. If the immune status is not good, such as AIDS, malignant tumors, long-term use of immune-suppressing drugs, etc., then the risk is higher than that of ordinary people.
Is shingles more dangerous with age?
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The older you get, the more likely you are to get shingles
Indeed it is. The older you get, the more likely it is for the virus that lurks in the body to activate and trigger shingles. Specifically, there are several phenomena:
· Phenomenon 1: The older you are, the higher your risk of shingles. Statistics show that the incidence of shingles begins to increase significantly around the age of 50, with 68% of cases of shingles occurring in people aged 50 years and older. On the other hand, scholars estimate that about half of the people who live to the age of 85 have already had shingles.
· Phenomenon 2: Symptoms of shingles tend to be worse with age. The average duration of pain is 34 days, and the total duration of pain increases dramatically with age.
· Symptom 3: The older you get, the longer the recovery time from shingles. For young people who are in good health, many can get better in 7~10 days, while middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old will have seizures for 2~4 weeks to get better.
· Symptom 4: The older you are, the higher the chance of developing complications of shingles. Studies have shown that 83% of postherpetic neuralgia occurs in people over the age of 50. In addition, 1 in 3 patients over the age of 79 will experience this painful sequelae.
All of the above data show that shingles is quite unfriendly to middle-aged and elderly people. Therefore, uncles and aunts should pay more attention to this disease.
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Young people, what do you need to pay attention to?
In addition, there must be a lot of young people in front of the mobile phone screen. Can that young man get shingles? What should I pay attention to in life?
First of all, let me comfort you, young people don't have to worry too much, because the probability of getting shingles is relatively small, and even if you do, many times it will be hard for a few days, and it is rare to have sequelae neuralgia.
To further reduce the number of sick measures, there are a few things you can do on a daily basis:
· Try not to be in a state of stress or exertion for a long time, when the immune status is not good, the virus in the body is relatively easy to reactivate, and then cause shingles.
· Don't abuse immune-suppressing drugs, such as prednisone by mouth, a glucocorticoid. When the body's immune system is suppressed, the virus is more susceptible to infection.
· Maintaining a good lifestyle, eating a healthy diet and exercising properly can reduce the risk of developing the disease (not limited to shingles).
Is shingles contagious?
The contagiousness of shingles is a very worthy of popularizing science for everyone, because it is very special.
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Is shingles contagious?
Although shingles is a disease caused by a viral infection, it is actually a secondary infection, or a secondary infection. Secondary infection means that this is not the first infection in the body (primary infection), and the manifestation of the first infection is not shingles, but chickenpox.
It may sound a bit convoluted, but let's put it another way - the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles is the same virus, and it is called "varicella-zoster virus". A person basically gets chickenpox first, and after chickenpox is cured, the virus will lurk in the body, and when the time is right - such as old age and poor immune status, the virus will revive and cause a second infection, which is herpes zoster. Chickenpox grows only once in a lifetime, whereas shingles can grow multiple times in a lifetime.
Now that we know the basics, let's look at the contagiousness of shingles. Overall, shingles itself is not contagious. However, the blisters of people with shingles contain the varicella-zoster virus, which can be transmitted through direct contact to people who have never been infected with the varicella virus, so that they can be infected with chickenpox instead of contracting others with shingles (important point: shingles is caused by the reactivation of the virus in each person's own body).
In addition to direct contact infection, other infection routes can be ignored (such as droplet transmission), so the overall contagiousness is relatively weak, much weaker than that of chickenpox, and home isolation is not required.
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What to do if you have shingles?
During the active phase of shingles, patients should cover the rash area with clothing and try to avoid contact with unvaccinated people who have not had chickenpox, especially children, pregnant women, and immunosuppressed people.
Seeing this, I believe you also know that shingles is a common viral disease that is relatively dangerous for the elderly and immunosuppressed people. By understanding details such as its hazards, how it spreads, and precautions, we can better protect ourselves and others.
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Get vaccinated against shingles
In particular, vaccination is an effective means of preventing shingles, and while it may be expensive, the investment is well worth it given the health benefits.
The good news is that there is a vaccine for shingles, and there is more than one. But the bad news is that vaccines are expensive. Here are the 2 vaccines on the market in China, you can take a look at the comparison between them:
Overall, according to the results of relevant studies, the effectiveness of recombinant vaccines in reducing the incidence of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia (basically more than 90%) is higher than that of live attenuated vaccines.
However, the live attenuated vaccine approved in China has the advantage that people over 40 years old can be vaccinated. When you reach the age of 50, you can also get the recombinant vaccine.
Considering that the shingles vaccine can significantly reduce the risk of developing the disease (even if it does, the symptoms are much milder), from a doctor's point of view, although the cost of the vaccine is a bit high, it can reduce unnecessary medical expenses and improve quality of life in the long run. Therefore, getting vaccinated against shingles is a health initiative worth investing in. What do you think?
Source: Popular Science China
Editor: Xiao He