Individuals at high risk of developing this infection can count on a specific vaccine, indicated from 50 years of age.
Those who have already been there know how insidious the shingles can be, an infection that targets the nerves and skin.
In Italy it affects almost 160,000 people every year, two out of three over 50 years old. Although few people know it, to prevent it and reduce the risk of developing its most serious and painful complication, post-herpetic neuralgia, today it is possible to get vaccinated.
What is St. Anthony’s fire
St. Anthony’s fire is caused by a virus that very often stays for years in our body, in a latent way, and is reactivated when the immune defenses are lowered. This is the herpes zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.
After healing from this infectious disease, which is usually contracted when young, the virus is not completely eliminated, but remains confined, “asleep”, in the nerve ganglia of the sensory nerves. A stressful period, a weakening of the immune system, such as that observed with advancing age or with the use of some immunosuppressive drugs, can be enough to reactivate the virus and give way to a long series of disorders.
The virus, once awakened, multiplies and goes up along the nerve bundle of a peripheral nerve until it reaches the innervated skin. The result is a violent neuropathic pain felt as a sting, a stab, which may be accompanied by burning, itching and itching.
Not only that: almost always, after 24-48 hours, reddened lesions appear along the affected nerve bundle that first turn into vesicles and then into crusts. But what is most frightening is post-herpetic neuralgia, that is, the persistence of neuropathic pain weeks, months or years after the disappearance of skin lesions. This complication occurs in about 10-20% of cases, especially as age advances, and can manifest itself in many ways, depending on the type of nerve fiber injured:
| Burning pain | Alteration of the finer fibers that transmit heat |
| Tingling | Lesion of the fibers that transmit tactile sensations |
| Stungent pain | Dysfunction of nerve fibers that transmit cold |
Prevention
Many cases of shingles resolve spontaneously, but to encourage this positive evolution we should quickly start therapy with antiviral drugs and painkillers, which does not always happen, thus increasing the risk of developing post-herpetic neuralgia.
To solve the problem at the root, a vaccine consisting of a live and attenuated virus is available, introduced in the new vaccination plan on offer free to over 65s, but recommended for all the elderly (it is expected in co-payment outside the 65th year of age, even if the individual Regions have the possibility to extend the gratuity to other age groups).
This vaccine has been able to reduce by about 60% the chances of developing shingles, a percentage that rises to over 65% with regard to the prevention of post-herpetic neuralgia related to the re-ignition of the virus. Vaccination involves the administration of a single dose, intramuscularly or subcutaneously.
Joycelyn Elders is the author and creator of EmpowerEssence, a health and wellness blog. Elders is a respected public health advocate and pediatrician dedicated to promoting general health and well-being.
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