Do you get shingles if you had chickenpox?
You can develop shingles years after chickenpox. Rapid treatment is important to avoid serious complications. A vaccination is also available. So who should get vaccinated?
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00:00 The first thing that Teresa Wetzel noticed was a red spot on her forehead that was slightly sore.
00:07 The biology student thought she might have accidentally splashed some chemicals onto her skin during a lab internship,
00:14 or that maybe it was a scrape.
00:17 It kind of burned a bit and also hurt when I touched it.
00:22 And then blisters also formed on the spot that burned even more.
00:26 And after a while my forehead started to feel numb.
00:30 My forehead was very sensitive to touch, it tingled slightly.
00:36 Her symptoms became more and more severe.
00:40 At the skin clinic, the 23-year-old discovered she had shingles.
00:44 This is her follow-up visit.
00:46 She still suffers from intermittent pain and other symptoms.
00:49 The student had always thought that shingles was something you only got when you were old.
00:56 It was quite a shock at first. I didn't expect it.
01:02 I was perplexed and I wondered where it came from.
01:07 If you've had chickenpox, then you have a chance of getting shingles.
01:11 After a chickenpox infection, the varicella zoster virus remains dormant in your body and the nerve roots of the spinal cord.
01:19 Decades later, the virus can be reactivated and travel along your nerve pathways to your skin.
01:26 Shingles can appear on your head, back, abdomen or other places on your body.
01:31 It's a very common disease.
01:34 We see two or three patients here every day with really severe shingles who require inpatient treatment.
01:43 Luckily, Teresa Wetzel went to the doctor quickly and her condition was diagnosed straight away.
01:49 Swift treatment with antiviral drugs, with tablets or sometimes infusions, is the best way to tackle it.
01:57 The important thing is to start the treatment as soon as possible.
02:05 The time frame is 48 hours after the onset of the skin changes.
02:09 Anything that starts later is still useful but may not be as effective.
02:14 If shingles is treated too late, there's a risk of permanent impairment.
02:20 The nerves the virus travels along can be seriously damaged and patients can develop what's called postherpetic neuralgia or PHN.
02:30 Torsten Jahn developed that complication.
02:35 It's been a year since he got shingles.
02:38 It started one weekend.
02:40 First severe pain, then blisters on his neck and face, burning, itching, stinging.
02:46 And the pain has still not gone away.
02:49 It feels as if it's not your own skin, like you're covered with leather.
02:58 Very strange feeling.
03:00 So when I shave my neck here, I just don't feel it.
03:05 It's numb.
03:07 It doesn't feel like it.
03:09 Numb.
03:10 Torsten Jahn was diagnosed four days later by his family doctor.
03:15 And then he was treated with antiviral tablets.
03:18 He was also given strong painkillers, which he's still taking.
03:22 Because the consequences can be grave, doctors worldwide advise older people to be vaccinated against shingles.
03:30 A vaccine has been available for several years and the results have generally been very positive.
03:37 The protection provided by vaccination is over 80 percent,
03:41 or there's often even over 90 percent probability that you won't develop shingles.
03:46 Of course, vaccination also has potential side effects,
03:49 like local reactions on the upper arm, at the injection site.
03:53 But they're usually short and mild, and minimal if you compare them with shingles.
03:58 Torsten Jahn has also decided to get vaccinated.
04:05 I don't want to get that again.
04:07 So for me, the question of whether or not to get vaccinated is already decided.
04:12 I definitely will.
04:15 (car door closing)