Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There Dr. Shiel was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.
Shingles Prevention: Reduce Your Risk While Pregnant
The varicella-zoster virus is highly contagious. If you have not had chickenpox, it's important that you avoid exposure to anyone known to have the infection -- or even crowds where you may come in contact with the infection, particularly if you are pregnant. If you already had chickenpox, you cannot catch shingles from someone with chickenpox or shingles.
Having chickenpox during pregnancy could potentially lead to chickenpox infection or birth defects in your unborn child, depending on when you are infected. Shingles, too, could potentially cause problems for your baby, but most experts agree the risk is less than with chickenpox. In one large study, there was no evidence of fetal harm in women who developed shingles.
If you're not sure if you have had chickenpox, your doctor can perform a blood test to check for antibodies to VZV. If you have the antibodies (indicating you have already had chickenpox infection), you run the risk of shingles in the future, but you cannot catch shingles from someone else.
Shingles may cause pain that can continue after the rash
disappears.
Steroids and antiviral drugs can help prevent long-term
pain after shingles if they are started within the first two days of the
appearance of the rash.
A vaccine is available for people over 60 years of age to reduce the incidence and severity of shingles.
What is shingles? What causes shingles?
Shingles is a skin rash caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. This
virus is called the Varicella zoster virus (VZV)
and belongs to the herpes family of viruses.
After an individual has chickenpox, this virus lives dormant in the nervous system
and is never fully cleared from the body. Under certain circumstances, such
as emotional stress, immune deficiency (from AIDS or chemotherapy), or with
cancer, the virus reactivates
and causes shingles. In most cases of shingles, however, a
cause for the reactivation of the virus is never found. Anyone who has ever
had chickenpox is at risk for the development of shingles, although it
occurs most commonly in people over the age of 60. It has been estimated
that up to 1,000,000 cases of shingles occur each year in the U.S.
The herpes virus that causes shingles and
chickenpox is not the same as the herpes viruses that causes genital herpes (which can be sexually transmitted)
or herpes mouth sores. Shingles is medically termed
Herpes zoster.
What are shingles symptoms and signs? How long does shingles last?
Even when there is no rash, the pain of shingles may be apparent. Before a rash is visible, the patient may notice several days to a week of burning pain and sensitive skin. When the characteristic rash is not yet apparent, it may be difficult to determine the cause of the often severe pain. Shingles rash starts as small blisters on a red base, with new blisters continuing to form for three to five days. The blisters follow the path of individual nerves that come out of the spinal cord in a specific "ray-like" distribution (called a dermatomal pattern) and appear in a band-like pattern on an area of skin. The entire path of the affected nerve may be involved, or there may be areas in the distribution of the nerve with blisters and areas without blisters. Generally, only one nerve level is involved. In a rare case, more than one nerve will be involved. Eventually, the blisters pop, and the area starts to ooze. The affected areas will then crust over and heal. The duration of the outbreak may take three to four weeks from start to finish. On occasion, the pain will be present but the blisters may never appear. This can be a very confusing cause of local pain.
Is shingles contagious?
Yes, shingles is contagious. Shingles can be spread from an affected person to
babies, children, or adults who have not had chickenpox.
But instead of developing shingles, these people develop chickenpox. Once they have had chickenpox, people cannot catch shingles (or contract the virus) from someone else. Once infected, however,
people have the potential to develop shingles later in life.
Pictures of shingles (herpes zoster)
Shingles is contagious to people who have not previously had chickenpox, as long as there are new blisters forming and old blisters healing. Similar to chickenpox, the time prior to healing or crusting of the blisters is the contagious stage of shingles. Once all of the blisters are crusted over, the virus can no longer be spread and shingles is no longer contagious.
The word "rash" means an outbreak of red bumps on the body. The way people use this term, "a rash" can refer to many different skin conditions. The most common of these are scaly patches of skin and red, itchy bumps or patches all over the place.
Stress occurs when forces from the outside world impinge on the individual. Stress is a normal part of life. However, over-stress, can be harmful. There is now speculation, as well as some evidence, that points to the abnormal stress responses as being involved in causing various diseases or conditions.
Itching can be a common problem. Itches can be localized or generalized. There are many causes of itching to include: infection (jock itch, vaginal itch), disease (hyperthyroidism, liver or kidney), reactions to drugs, and skin infestations (pubic or body lice). Treatment for itching varies depending on the cause of the itch.
Chickenpox (chicken pox) is a contagious childhood disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. Symptoms have an incubation period of 14 to 16 days and include a couple days of mild fever, weakness, and red, raised rash that progresses to blisters that eventually burst and crust over. Complications include bacterial infection of the open sores, scarring, encephalitis, nerve palsies, and Reye's syndrome.
Keratitis is inflammation of the cornea. Symptoms and signs include pain, tearing, blurred vision, eye redness, watery eyes, or the cornea may appear gray or white. Treatment of keratitis depends upon the underlying cause of the inflammation.
Enjoying a satisfying sex life as we age is important to both physical and mental health. As we age, diseases and conditions may pose challenges in our sexual health, and sexual experiences. Learn how to manage your conditions and still have a gratifying sex life as you age.
A corneal ulcer is an open sore on the cornea. Infection is a common cause of corneal ulcer. Symptoms and signs of corneal ulcer include redness, eye pain and discharge, blurred vision, photophobia, and a gray or white spot on the cornea. Treatment depends upon the cause of the corneal ulcer.
Herpes of the Eye is developed by the herpes simplex 1 virus that usually lives around the nerve fibers in humans. Symptoms of herpes of the eye include pain in and around only one eye, redness rash or sores on the eyelids, redness of the eye, and swelling and cloudiness of the cornea.
Becoming infected with chickenpox during pregnancy could cause birth defects in your unborn child. Likewise, shingles could also cause problems for your unborn child. If you are pregnant and haven't had chickenpox, avoid exposure to infected people. Zostavax, the shingles vaccine, can reduce the incidence of shingles by half. Women should wait at least three months after receiving the vaccine before trying to get pregnant.
Double vision (diplopia) is a symptom that my indicate Graves' disease, myasthenia gravis, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, diabetes, cataracts, aneurysm, brain tumor, or migraine. Symptoms and signs include eye pain, droopy eyelids, nausea, headache, and a cross-eyed appearance. Treatment of double vision depends upon the underlying cause.
Keratitis is the medical term for inflammation of the cornea. The cornea is
the dome-shaped window in the front of the eye. When looking at a person's eye,
one can see the iris and pupil through the normally clear cornea. The cornea
bends light rays as a result of its curved shape and accounts for approximately
two-thirds of the eye's total optical power, with the lens of the eye
contributing the remaining one-third.. Only the very thin tear film lies between
the front of the cornea and our environment.
The cornea is about 0.5 millimeter thick. The back of the cornea is bathed in
the aqueous fluid that fills the anterior chamber of the eye. The cornea has a
diameter of about 13 millimeters (½ inch) and, together with the sclera (the
white part of the eye) forms the entire outer coat of the eye.
What are the causes of keratitis?
Keratitis, the eye condition in which the cornea becomes i...