They may both start as a rash but later shingles can turn into painful blisters, while chickenpox will give you an uncomfortable itch. Shingles typically looks like a single stripe rash around the left or right side of the body, but it may also break out on your face or scalp. Before a rash even appears, shingles can often start with a fever or headache along with tingling, itching, or pain.
And soon enough, you have the telltale rash. If you had chickenpox as a child, you may not get it again in your adulthood, but you are still at the risk of getting shingles.
Shingles is more than just adult chickenpox. Here are four reasons why you should take it seriously. If you had the chickenpox as a child, the virus that causes it remains in your body, asleep, and it can wake up later when your immune system is compromised. Shingles can affect teenagers, young adults, and the elderly. This is a common complication of shingles called postherpetic neuralgia. Shingles can take 3 to 5 weeks to clear up. But nerve pain could potentially continue long after the rash is gone.
Although shingles and chickenpox are caused by the same virus, they are not the same illness. Chickenpox is usually a milder illness that affects children. Shingles results from a reactivation of the virus long after the chickenpox illness has disappeared.
The chickenpox virus stays in the body even after recovery. Later in life, the virus can reactivate and cause shingles. If you have shingles, you can spread the varicella virus to people who have never had chickenpox or never received the chickenpox vaccine. You can get chickenpox from someone who has shingles if you have never had chickenpox or never received the chickenpox vaccine.
To prevent spreading VZV to others: Cover the rash. Avoid touching or scratching the rash. Wash your hands often. Avoid contact with the following people until your rash crusts: pregnant women who have never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine; premature or low birth weight infants; and people with weakened immune systems, such as people receiving immunosuppressive medications or undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, and people with human immunodeficiency virus HIV infection.
Some people have a greater risk of getting shingles. This includes people who have medical conditions that keep their immune systems from working properly, such as certain cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, and human immunodeficiency virus HIV receive drugs that keep their immune systems from working properly, such as steroids and drugs that are given after organ transplantation. Also see Treating Shingles Top of Page.
Related Links. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
0コメント