What is Shingles - Is Shingles a Contagious Disease?

Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by painful blisters that travel along the nerve routes, where is has been secretly lurking since the time you first got chickenpox. It is caused by the virus Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), not to be confused with the sexually transmitted disease herpes simplex, as they are not the same condition.

Shingles develops in people who have had chickenpox in the past. It can appear when you have been under a lot of stress or have immune system problems such as AIDS, or chemotherapy treatments for cancer. People with sickle cell anemia disease are also susceptible to getting shingles if they have previously had chickenpox.

In the beginning of an outbreak, a person may have a low grade fever that is usually not noticed. The fever can be followed by painful areas on the skin with no known origin. Eventually, painful blisters appear that burst open and begin to leak fluid. It is during this stage that shingles is most contagious. The blisters then will crust over and heal, and is not contagious after this point.

Is Shingles Contagious?

Shingles is spread via person to person contact, but the condition does not manifest as such to a person if exposed to it. A person exposed to the shedding of the virus who has not had chickenpox before will get chickenpox, which could lead to having shingles later in their life.

Herpes zoster is more prevalent in people of middle age, such as in their 60s. While this may be true, it has been known to occur in people as young or younger than 10 years old, as well as people in their 20s and up. If you have had chickenpox you are vulnerable to having a shingles attack at anytime in your life.

This may be hard to believe, but a long time ago in years gone by, when a kid in the neighborhood or in the family caught chickenpox, all the kids were put in a room together so they all could get it. It was thought that since all were going to end up with it anyway, lets just to get it over with and be done. So all the kids got chickenpox and that was the end of it. Or so they thought. It only came back again in the form of a painful outbreak as a red rash in later years.

A person who has no underlying immune diseases and is of optimal health does not have to be concerned with catching shingles from another person. The only phase when this disease is contagious is when the person who has come down with this condition has blisters that is seeping a clear fluid that has not crusted over.

As this condition is very painful and can leave scars, symptoms can be managed with antiviral agents and topical skin applications to reduce symptoms, as well as pain medications for the discomfort caused by it.

by Barb Hicks, RN/LMT