It is hard to ignore the shingles disease due to the fact there is often pain on top of the rash. This is due to the fact that the virus can strike the nervous system. The virus is called varicella zoster virus and it remains in the body after chickenpox able to re-activate years later. Though in the past this was recommended, in 2008 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now suggests the shingles vaccine for people over sixty.
It is important however to realize it may not be appropriate for everyone since live cultures of the virus are administered in the shot. Depending on your immune system condition and history, it may not be ideal for you. Your doctor will need to review your medications, health history and current medical condition. The vaccination is said by experts to have a fifty percent chance of prevention of a shingles outbreak.
Shingles is often a blister rash that has fluid. It can be both itchy and painful. Herpes zoster may be only on one side of the body, but this is not categorically the case. Herpes zoster is not the same as herpes simplex virus one which causes the cold sore one often sees on someone's lip. Other shingle symptoms can include chills and flu-like symptoms.
As the shingles rash heals, it will form a crust. However, before this happens, the blisters can be contagious to others. You won't be spreading shingles itself, but you can pass chickenpox on to a child or infant. Because many people think of shingles as a disease that strikes those over fifty, there is often a lack of knowledge that it can be communicated to a child.
Check with your doctor if you are a candidate for the vaccine for shingles disease. If you are under sixty, you should still ask your doctor. One reason to have the vaccine is that they say over 65 percent of people can avoid a complication of herpes called post-herpetic neuralgia or chronic neuralgia which is a painful condition in the skin area of the shingles rash after it has faded.
Stop by to see a shingles video and read about the Shingles Disease Vaccine. Get more facts on shingles symptoms and prevention at http://www.itchyskinrash.net/shingles-disease.html.