According to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine," shingles, also known as herpes zoster, the same virus that causes chickenpox, causes a vesicular rash on one side of the body, along a dermatome, which is a 3- to 5-inch strip of skin supplied by a single nerve and associated with severe pain. It can affect anyone who has had chickenpox, because it remains in the body and can be reactivated; it occurs at all ages, but people older than 60 years have the highest incidence. Shingles affects healthy people under stress and many immunocompromised individuals.
HIV/AIDS Patients
According to Dana.org, the most common condition associated with shingles is AIDS. Herpes zoster occurs 15 to 25 times more often in HIV-infected people than in the general population and three to seven times more frequently than among the elderly, according to the website AidsInfo, a service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The highest rates of shingles in HIV-infected people occur in gay or bisexual men, individuals younger than 29 years, people with less than 500 CD4+ cell counts, and Caucasians. Shingles can also occur after starting highly active antiretroviral therapy, according to AIDS.org,
Bone Marrow Transplant Patients
According to MayoClinic.com, people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk for developing shingles. Patients who received a bone marrow transplant commonly develop shingles, according to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine." Shingles occurs in up to one-third of patients who have an autologous, or derived from oneself, bone marrow transplant, for various hematologic malignancies, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center website.
Hodgkin's Disease
According to "The New York Times" Health Guide, cancer increases the risk for herpes zoster infection. The highest risk occurs in Hodgkin's disease patients, 13 to 15 percent of whom develop shingles, notes the "Times," adding that approximately 7 to 9 percent of lymphoma patients and 1 to 3 percent of patients having other cancers have herpes zoster.
References
- "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine"; Dennis Kasper, M.D.; 2005
- AIDS: Herpes Zoster Fact Sheet
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Boosting Immunity
- "The New York Times" Health Guide: Shingles
- Mayo Clinic: Shingles
