What you need to know about shingles treatment and prevention

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What you need to know about shingles treatment and prevention

Carmen Pope

Shingles rash
[Image: Heng Dao – iStock.com]

TOMMY COMES UP to you at the counter and pulls up his shirt to reveal a nasty-looking rash on one side of his torso. He said he had COVID-19 two weeks ago and wants to know if the rash could be related to that.

Shingles is a very common viral infection, affecting one in three people in their lifetime, with a 50 per cent risk of developing shingles in those ag
References
  1. University of Auckland. If you've recently had Covid, look out for shingles. 16 August 2022. https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2022/08/16/If-youve-had-Covid-look-out-for-shingles.html
  1. Ministry of Health. Immunisation Handbook 2020. Zoster (herpes zoster/shingles). 14 October 2022. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/immunisation-handbook-2020
  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shingles (Herpes Zoster). 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/shingles/index.html
  1. Mishra KP, Singh M, Saraswat D, et al. Dysfunctional state of T cells or exhaustion during chronic viral infections and COVID-19: A review. Viral Immunology 2022;(35)4:284–90.
  1. Fookes C (Tech Ed). Shingles. Healthcare Handbook 2022–2023. Auckland, NZ: The Health Media Ltd; 2022
  1. New Zealand Formulary. 5.3.2.1 Herpes simplex and varicella-zoster infection. NZF v125; 1 November 2022. https://nzf.org.nz/nzf_3432
  1. BPACnz. Valaciclovir – a first line antiviral medicine. 2016. https://bpac.org.nz/BPJ/2016/March/valaciclovir.aspx
  1. US Food and Drug Administration. FDA Requires a Warning about Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) be Included in the Prescribing Information for Shingrix. 24 March 2021 https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/fda-requires-warning-about-guillain-barre-syndrome-gbs-be-included-prescribing-information-shingrix