Are you prone to Shingles?

Janjivan Bureau
Mumbai: With the death of the television actor Sanjiv Bedi this week, city doctors warn of the viral infection shingles. Marine Lines’s Bombay Hospital doctors have warned of deadly virus and issued some preventive guidelines. It was reported that the actor known for his role as Dr Omi in Sanjivani was in his late thirties and was suffering from extreme case of shingles. Dr Om Shrivastav, who sees nearly 10 cases of shingles a month in his private practice, calls it the ‘nastier cousin of chickenpox.’
According to Dr.Shrivastav once a person gets infected by the chicken pox virus, the virus goes in deep slumber or hibernation mode in the nerve root. However, in some people the virus reactivates itself a year later and causes Shingles. Scientists say that only in 15 percent cases the virus reactivates and they still don’t know the exact cause behind the virus reactivating itself.
However, Dr. Shrivastav said that poor immunity might be the prime reason that causes dormant virus to wake up as at that time it is easy to bypass white blood cells that plays important role in cell-mediated immunity.
Doctors warned the people suffering from HIV, diabetes and who had previously developed chicken pox as they have higher chances of getting infected with Shingles. Also, people older than 50 years should be careful in case of an outbreak.
Also known as Herpes zoster, shingles is a viral disease that leads to painful skin rashes with blisters on one side of the body. Even before the lesions start appearing, early symptoms of the condition include acute chest pain that is felt more like a burning sensation. Apart from this, red patches begin to appear followed by blisters that form small sores. These sores gradually dry and form crusts. The crusts usually fall off in 2 to 3 weeks without leaving scars behind. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus stays dormant in the nerve roots. In some people, the virus reactivates years later as shingles.