INFORMATION ON SHINGLES

Shingles or Herpes Zoster is a painful viral infection of nervous system. Shingles may happen only in that condition when you had chickenpox in the past. Shingles generally found in children. Chickenpox happens due to varicella chickenpox virus and after that this virus stays in your body in certain nerve root cells. If a person has shingles then the immune system of that person naturally weakens to some germs and he may have Shingles or Herpes Zoster.

SYNONYMS OF SHINGLES

Synonyms of sleep apnea are:

1. Shingles.
2. Zona ignea.
3. Zona serpiginosa.
4. Varicella-zoster virus.
5. Chickenpox.
6. Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

CAUSES OF SHINGLES

Shingles or Herpes Zoster happens only due to the chickenpox varicella virus. After chickenpox the varicella virus reappears in the form of Shingles. When the virus becomes active it causes a painful rash but no one can say why the virus becomes active now. Shingles or Herpes Zoster is something different from chickenpox. Unlike the chickenpox, shingles cannot be spread through the air from an affected individual to another person. Only the people who have had chickenpox before can develop shingles, which results when the dormant chickenpox virus in the individual’s nervous system is reactivated.

SYMPTOMS OF SHINGLES

Symptoms of Shingles are:

1. Mild fever, slightly unwell, upset stomach.
2. Pains & itching in skin.
3. Rashes appear because of itching and pains in skin.
4. Deep burning, searing, aching, or stabbing pain, which may be continuous or intermittent.
5. A group or long strip of small, fluid-filled blisters.

DIAGNOSIS OF SHINGLES

Early diagnoses of shingles helps lessen the duration of the outbreak, as well as prevent complications of shingles, such as continuing pain after the lesions have healed.

Other tests may be done during diagnosis are:

1. Microscopic examination.
2. Viral culture.
3. Immunofluorescence.
4. Polymerase chain reaction techniques.

TREATMENT OF SHINGLES

The primary treatment of Shingles is pain killers for regular pain relief. There is many antiviral are available like acyclovir, famciclovir and valacyclovir. Acyclovir is very well known currently. It is the antiviral drug that is most commonly used to treat shingles. Acylovir drug is used for reducing inflammation and pains. Famciclovir drug may also used for reducing pain significantly and speed up recovery from an acute attack. Valacyclovir is drug used to treat an acute attack of shingles as same as acyclovir. It is also taken orally, is absorbed better than acyclovir and is likely to resolve pain more rapidly.