Shingles Research Paper

Shingles is a painful, rash that appears on ones skin. The scientific name for shingles is herpes zoster. Shingles is inside every person who had chickenpox at an earlier age. It can flair up at any moment, usually the more likely the older one gets. Shingles can flair up for a number of reasons such as stress and a weak immune system. Shingles and smallpox were thought to be the same thing until William Heberden discovered a way to distinguish the two. In 1942, shingles was discovered to be more prominent in older adults. Later a study showed that of the people who had chickenpox as a child, 50% would have shingles by the age of 85. In 1965, Dr. Hope- Simpson declared that shingles could be prevented or stalled by having a healthy …show more content…
However, there are a few ways to treat it. Different lotions can be used to subside the pain and itching of the rash. Although the pain can be excruciating during the time one has shingles, 80% of people report to have no more pain from shingles after the first year of their first outbreak. Capsaicin cream and topical lidocaine can be used to ease the pain. Acyclovir is the most common drug used to fight shingles. Steroids are used to help short term pain, not for long term pain. There is a vaccine for shingles. It is called Zostavax, and was developed in 2006. It can reduce the risk of getting shingles by 51%. The vaccine can provide protection from the shingles virus for up to five years. There are only a few side effects of the shingles vaccine. They include soreness, swelling, redness in 33% of people who use the vaccine. Also, headaches in 1.4% of people who use the vaccine. Shingles, for the most part, isn't a very severe virus. It can be treated with simple care and no surgery. Most of the time the shingles virus will never come back after the first outbreak. Shingles comes from the chickenpox virus and is put inside one's body when they contract