Sunday April 24, 2022 – Author:
zdr
Covid-19 can increase the risk of other diseases: diabetes, for example, or heart muscle inflammation. According to a US study, the risk of developing shingles is significantly higher, especially in the first six months following recovering from a corona infection. The warm season that is now beginning is considered a good time to be vaccinated once morest it.
At least 24 million Germans have already been infected with Covid-19, 2.8 million are currently suffering from it. In many cases, the infection is mild and those affected are back on their feet following a short time. But what many of those affected do not know: Covid 19 disease also increases the risk of other diseases – shingles, for example.
Increased risk of shingles in women and the over-65s
According to a US study, the risk of developing shingles is significantly increased, especially in the first six months following recovering from corona disease. A current evaluation of US health insurance data shows that people over 50 have a 15 percent higher risk of developing shingles following contracting Covid 19. In patients with severe courses including hospitalization, it was even 21 percent higher. There were also differences between the sexes and in certain age groups: women have a higher risk than men. In addition, people over 65 years of age are more at risk than 50 to 64 year olds.
The immune system of the elderly is once more weakened by Covid-19
Experts explain this phenomenon with a weakening of the immune system with age. From the second half of life, the immune system naturally weakens – even without Covid-19 disease. The remaining immune cells are probably additionally damaged by a corona infection – at least temporarily. This can also lead to the outbreak of shingles, for example.
The shingles virus in the body is reactivated
As a result of this temporary immune deficiency, the “varicella-zoster virus” responsible for shingles, which is dormant in the body of a large part of the population, can be reactivated. Whoever gets infected with the virus first gets chickenpox. After survived chickenpox infection the virus often remains dormant in the body for decades. If the immune system is now weakened due to age, illness or stress, the virus can be reactivated as shingles. This time the disease comes from within.
Older people are particularly at risk and are often affected: more than 95 percent of those over 60 already have the virus in their bodies. Shingles is one of the most common diseases in adulthood: Statistically, one in three people will develop shingles in their lifetime.
Shingles produces nerve pain
A particularly stressful but not uncommon consequence of shingles is long-lasting, sometimes irreversible, severe nerve pain, also known as post-herpetic neuralgia. Up to 30 percent of those affected suffer from this complication, which sometimes even has to be treated as an inpatient.
STIKO recommends shingles vaccination from the age of 60
The STIKO (Standing Vaccination Committee) recommends vaccination once morest shingles for people over the age of 60 and people with underlying diseases from the age of 50. The typical decrease in the incidence of infection during the summer months is considered an ideal time for prevention. Since 2019 is the shingles vaccination is part of the catalog of services provided by statutory health insurance companies.
