Shingles and other virus related conditions

[DoraSpenlow]

Having seen an advert on tv last night about shingles it got me to thinking.

Shingles, as I understand it, occurs as a result of the chicken pox virus laying dormant in your body being reactivated. Is there any evidence that the current coronavirus has any similar properties or is it a different sort of virus? Is there any research on this?

Were there any issues with people who recovered from the Spanish flu getting problems caused by the virus some time later?

I remember FIL having shingles and he was in agony with it.

Probably no connections at all but the advert just made me think about it.

Chicken pox can actually be quite dangerous. Up to 20 under 10s die every year from it. In adults it can cause infertility in men and as well as shingles it can cause other neurological problems.

The lesson here is to get children vaccinated against chicken pox as soon as they turn 2. I must admit I find it odd the move to get 5 to 11 years vaccinated against Covid when chicken pox is a much greater threat to them.

As for chicken pox parties they are basically barbaric.

I've heard of mumps and a link to infertility in adult men but not a link with chickenpox.

Think it's the herpes viruses that can lie dormant eg. Cold sores, genital herpes and chickenpox among others

Yep chicken pox in adult males lowers the sperm count, usually only temporarily.

www.quora.com/Can-chickenpox-cause-male-infertility

Yes, lots of viruses can lead to long term conditions/complications. This was known before covid. It’s no great surprise that for a proportion of people it will lead to long term conditions, and if you have a lot of people catching a virus at the same time then even a small proportion may mean a large number with long term difficulties. My sibling is CEV as a result of a virus contracted as a teenager, my family has always been conscious of this.

This article is what you want OP! The answer is yes, re Spanish flu, etc etc:

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00414-x

The measles virus is an interesting one, as it can cause immune amnesia - basically resetting the immune system. One study I saw suggested measles infection wiped out between 11 and 73% of antibodies to other viruses and bacteria, drastically reducing overall immunity.

It’s why, before vaccination, many children who had had measles were ‘delicate’ afterwards and caught every illness going, and why death rates were higher after recovery from measles.

Thanks @JanglyBeads, that's just what I meant.

Seems like Covid will not be done with us for some time yet!

No idea re your question sorry but I have been wondering about Covid and Shingles.

My husband and I tested positive for Covid, our 5yr old remained negative but came out in Shingles 3 days after our positive tests. He had chickenpox as a 6week old baby.

Two weeks after the Shingles he tested positive for Covid.

I think any virus with a high temperature can trigger shingles so i am sure covid can trigger shingles

Apparently shingles might have poss links to Covid infection and /or vaccination, unsure though:

www.healthline.com/health/adult-vaccines/shingles-and-covid

I have had shingles when run down, so that may be an additional link

There's an interesting article on the same subject here:

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.698169/full

I got mild shingles after my Moderna booster.

I have shingles which started at the same time as DH showed the first symptoms of what turned out to be covid. I in fact tested negative, but it seems a very odd coincidence. I do wonder whether I either had asymptomatic covid which had died down by the time I tested, or maybe I managed to resist covid but the virus still triggered the shingles.

I haven't had covid but I did develop shingles straight after the second vaccine

I read there was a spate of this going on but my doc said there had been no research into a connection but couldn't rule one out!

@1dayatatime

Chicken pox can actually be quite dangerous. Up to 20 under 10s die every year from it. In adults it can cause infertility in men and as well as shingles it can cause other neurological problems.

The lesson here is to get children vaccinated against chicken pox as soon as they turn 2. I must admit I find it odd the move to get 5 to 11 years vaccinated against Covid when chicken pox is a much greater threat to them.

As for chicken pox parties they are basically barbaric.

And remind people over 70 to get the shingles vaccination.

Long covid suggests that there are clear long term implications associated with covid. Links have been made between covid and the subsequent development of diabetes:

www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7102e2.htm

Links have also been made between covid infections and neurological and cardio vascular damage:

www.nature.com/articles/s41584-021-00608-z#:~:text=The%20two%20main%20systemic%20inflammatory,the%20top%20of%20the%20figure

www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-real-risk-of-heart-inflammation-to-kids-is-from-covid-19not-the-vaccine?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=twitter::cmp=editorial::add=tw20211123science-heartinflammationkids&linkId=141356419

Viruses (of any kind) can trigger autoimmune responses that we do not yet fully understand.

I'm definitely going to have the shingles vaccination as soon as I'm eligible for it, and I'd very strongly recommend it to everyone else. It's been going on for over ten days now and, though I'm certainly better than I was, I still can't see properly, I still have a permanent headache, and I'm generally just wiped out. I'm grabbing anything that's on offer to avoid a repeat.

I had shingles a few weeks after the covid 2nd jab. To be honest, although diagnosed as such by my GP ( no I didn't get to see him. It was a phone consultation with uploaded pics), I did not especially link it to having the vax, though I have since heard of others having shingles.
In my case, i was prescribed some anti virals (by phone direct to chemist).
I think my case of shingles was a mild case and not a large area. Finally went after about 10 days.

I got shingles after my second vaccine. 100%!

I also had shingles after my 2nd vaccine, I reported it on the Yellow Card system.

Herpes, (genital+cold sores), slapped cheek virus, probably pityriasis rosea, all hpv viruses, all warts, chicken pox - these viruses are all related.