Shingles.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-22-2005
Shingles.
1
Mon, 05-25-2009 - 7:24pm
What is shingles?

Shingles (herpes zoster) is a viral infection of the nerve roots. It causes pain and often causes a rash Click here to see an illustration. on one side of the body, the left or right. The rash appears in a band, a strip, or a small area. Shingles is most common in older adults and people who have weak immune systems because of stress, injury, certain medicines, or other reasons. Most people who get shingles will get better and will not get it again.


What causes shingles?

Shingles occurs when the virus that causes chickenpox starts up again in your body. After you get better from chickenpox, the virus ”sleeps” (is dormant) in your nerve roots. In some people, it stays dormant forever. In others, the virus “wakes up” when disease, stress, or aging weakens the immune system. It is not clear why this happens. But after the virus becomes active again, it can only cause shingles, not chickenpox.


You can't catch shingles from someone else who has shingles.

Von.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-12-2003
In reply to: gal_vony2
Tue, 05-26-2009 - 4:55am

Thanks von,,, the curious thing is while you can not catch shingles from someone who has