{"id":31950,"date":"2023-10-13T14:27:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T12:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.nefrocenter.it\/shingles-saint-anthonys-fire-everything-you-need-to-know\/"},"modified":"2023-10-13T14:27:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T12:27:18","slug":"shingles-saint-anthonys-fire-everything-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.nefrocenter.it\/en\/shingles-saint-anthonys-fire-everything-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Shingles (Saint Anthony’s fire): everything you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shingles, known in Italy as Saint Anthony’s fire and medically as herpes zoster, is a viral infection. It causes a painful skin rash that can produce symptoms capable of affecting quality of life for months. The virus that affects people with shingles is the same one that causes chickenpox. The only difference is that it reactivates later in life, not necessarily in old age. Shingles can in fact affect anyone, but it is more common in adults over the age of 50 and in people with a weakened immune system. The latter are the people most at risk of getting the virus.<\/span><\/p>\n

How you can get shingles<\/b><\/h2>\n

The virus can spread through contact between one person and another. Unlike chickenpox, which also spreads through the air. Shingles can be transmitted only when a healthy person comes into direct contact with the skin lesions of an infected person. Contagion occurs only while the skin rash is active and visible, not during the incubation phase of the virus. Contagion does not occur later either, when the blisters turn into scabs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The causes: what shingles is due to<\/b><\/h3>\n

The VZV virus stays inactive in nerve tissue. After some time, however, it can reactivate after remaining in the cranial nerves or in the spinal cord without causing any symptoms or problems. Its reactivation triggers herpes zoster. The causes of shingles are not completely understood by doctors. What is certain, however, is that the cause is an infection with the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). After a person has had chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in the body. In some cases, however, the virus can reactivate and cause shingles.<\/span><\/p>\n

The symptoms: how to tell you have shingles<\/b><\/h3>\n

Symptoms can vary from person to person, but they often include:<\/span><\/p>\n