Shingles (also called herpes zoster, or just zoster) is a painful skin rash that usually has blisters. Although shingles can occur anywhere on your body, it most often appears as a single stripe of blisters that wraps around either the left or the right side of the torso, according to the Mayo Clinic. Shingles can also cause fever, headache, chills or upset stomach. More rarely, it can lead to pneumonia, hearing problems, blindness, brain inflammation (encephalitis) or death. Some people experience shingles pain without ever developing the rash.
Deeper Dive
Shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus; the same virus that causes chickenpox. The chickenpox virus stays dormant in the body, and it may reactivate and travel along nerve pathways to the skin — producing shingles. But not everyone who has been diagnosed with chickenpox will develop shingles. While shingles cannot be passed from one person to another, the reactivated chickenpox virus can spread and cause chickenpox in someone who never had chickenpox or received the chickenpox vaccine.
The most common complication of shingles is long-term nerve pain called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). PHN occurs in the areas where the shingles rash was, even after the rash clears up. It can last for months or years after the rash goes away. The pain from PHN can be severe and debilitating, according to experts at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York.
About 10% to 18% of people who get shingles will experience PHN and the risk increases with age. An older adult with shingles is more likely to develop PHN and have longer lasting and more severe pain than a younger person with shingles.
The recombinant shingles vaccine is the preferred vaccine for the prevention of shingles. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults 50 years and older get two doses of the shingles vaccine, Shingrix, to prevent shingles and the complications from the disease. Adults 19 years and older who have weakened immune systems because of disease or therapy should also get two doses of Shingrix due to a higher risk of getting shingles and related complications. Medicare Part D and most private health insurance plans cover the vaccine. However, it is always prudent for consumers to check with their specific insurer for information about copays or other out of pocket costs. Side effects are generally minimal and disappear after a few days, according to the CDC.