2023-04-30 19:39:38
MONTREAL — Shingles, an “old” disease? Less than you think. Every year, young adults have to deal with an episode of shingles, at a time when we see an upward trend in this disease in several age groups in Quebec. Sarah-Maude Chrétien knows something regarding it.
“It was extremely painful. I was unable to walk for regarding two weeks,” says the young woman, now 29, who was diagnosed with shingles when she was 26. This infectious disease is caused by the reactivation of the varicella virus.
Sarah-Maude had first noticed the appearance of several small “bunch of grapes” pimples on the back of her leg. The rashes caused by shingles follow the nerves. In the case of the young woman, the red pimples extended along her sciatic nerve, from the buttock to the calf.
“I even went to see the pharmacist, showing a photo of my thigh. The pharmacist said to me: ah, I would be surprised if that’s it, you’re 26 years old, shingles is really not common for young people your age, ”continues Sarah-Maude.
She returned home, despite the increasing pain. “I woke up two days later and was unable to walk,” she adds. She then went to the hospital, where she was prescribed antivirals. Taking this treatment within 72 hours of the appearance of the lesions is indicated to treat shingles.
Even today, Sarah-Maude sometimes feels spasms in her leg. She also said she was surprised at the number of people around her who had shingles before their 30s.
In recent years, there has been a slight increase in shingles cases in all age groups in Quebec, with the exception of children, who have been more massively vaccinated once morest chickenpox, explains Dr. Chantal Sauvageau, physician specialist in public health and preventive medicine.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a major US national public health organization, rates of shingles are on the rise in adults, but especially in young adults. The organization says it does not know the causes of this increase.
For now, in Quebec, the shingles vaccine is recommended for citizens aged 50 and over. “Studies have mainly focused on people aged 50 and over and this is normal, because it is really from this age that the incidence, therefore the risk of developing shingles, increases and there is a another increase at age 70,” says Dr. Chantal Sauvageau.
People who are immunosuppressed or have a chronic disease are most at risk of developing shingles in the young adult group.
“Is a healthy 30-year-old at risk of getting shingles? Yes, but it is really weaker than increasing in age, or having a disease that harms our immune system. This means that in the balance, at the population level, there are really clear gains from the age of 50 [à la vaccination]explains Dr. Sauvageau.
Vaccination once morest chickenpox, however, seems to work in children. A downward trend in the number of emergency department visits for shingles among children aged zero to nine years old was noted by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) between 2014 and 2019. “Indeed, it there is a 45% drop between the period of the one-dose vaccination program and the two-dose program,” reads a report from the Institute, published in November 2021.
Stress, a trigger for shingles?
Sarah-Maude Chrétien had an episode of shingles when she was under great stress. And anxiety might affect the development of this infectious disease.
“Some studies show that if one has recently had a trauma, for example a road accident, physical or even psychological trauma, stress or anxiety, there is some association, unfortunately, with the increased risk of shingles,” says Dr. Sauvageau.
Since Thursday, people aged 80 and over, as well as immunosuppressed citizens aged 18 and over, can register to receive the shingles vaccine free of charge in Quebec.
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This dispatch was produced with financial assistance from the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for News.
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