Do you only get shingles once in your life?

Not entirely

Shingles is not a disease that only occurs once in a lifetime. Some people think that after an outbreak, the virus will be completely eliminated, but this is not the case.

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is not completely cleared after the initial infection with chickenpox but instead remains latent in the nerve ganglia for a long time.

After a person's immune system controls the initial infection, the virus becomes dormant. Although most people do not experience frequent relapses, the virus can be reactivated and cause recurrences of shingles if the immune system weakens, the person ages, experiences stress, or becomes ill.

Taking data as an example, the consensus of Chinese experts on shingles points out that the recurrence rate is between 1% and 6%. The recurrence rate will be higher if the patient is older and has some underlying diseases, or if the patient has low immunity (such as HIV patients).

To reduce the risk of initial shingles and recurrences, especially in people aged 40 or 50 years and older, shingles vaccines are recommended. Domestic vaccines are approved for use in people aged 40 years and older, and imported vaccines are approved for use in people aged 50 years and older. Shingles vaccines can help the immune system control the virus more effectively, thereby reducing the risk of disease (including recurrence).

Author: Tang Jiaoqing, MD, attending physician of dermatology

Review | Feng Jun, deputy chief physician of the Dermatology Department of Sinopharm Tongmei General Hospital