86% of the population underestimate the risk of contracting shingles

Compilation. A GSK-sponsored survey of 3,500 adults over 50 in 12 countries estimated knowledge participants about the risk and severity of herpes zoster (also known as shingles), its triggers, and its consequences. influence in people’s lives.

The study shows that 86% of respondents do not know about their risk development of herpes zoster. A quarter estimate that one in 100 people are at risk of contracting shingles in their lifetime, 17% believe it is 1 in 1,000, and nearly half believe they are unlikely to get shingles.

Shingles affects every third person aged 50 to 90 years.

When the reality is that one in three people aged 50 to 90 will present episode tiles throughout their entire life. Shingles is caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox and is usually contracted during childhood.

As people get older, they the immune system it weakens, known as immunosenescence, and loses its ability to keep the virus under control; which increases the likelihood of contracting shingles. This also occurs in people with immunosuppression due to certain diseases or treatments.

Every tenth adult does not know the symptoms of this pathology.

The survey results indicate the existence lack of awareness about the pain that shingles can cause. The disease usually manifests as blisters, which can be painful and most often affect the chest, face and head; It is often described as a burning, tingling, or electric shock sensation. However, every tenth adult surveyed does not know the most common symptoms of shingles and 28% believe that the disease is “harmless.”

In cases where the pain persists After the shingles rash heals, postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) may occur. chronic pain of nervous origin, which can persist for weeks, months and even several years. NPH is the most common complication of herpes zoster, affecting up to 1 in 10 people.

NPH is the most common complication of herpes zoster.

The survey also examined what media participants use to obtain information related to their health: more than 40% regularly use social media such as Facebook and Instagram, while nearly a third use internet browsers such as Google at least once a week for this type of information, compared to the frequency with which they visit their doctors.

40% of the population uses social networks to obtain medical information

Data overview Google Global Search In the 12 months from September 2022, searches increased by 70%. “Is shingles transmitted by contact or airborne transmission?” which highlights the growing interest in this pathology and, in turn, the lack of understanding of this disease.

Dr. Raquel Alfaro, specialist in family and community medicine at the Andalusian Health Service and secretary of the Working Group on Infectious Diseases, Migrants, Vaccines and Prevention (Imvap) of Semerguena, said that “shingles can cause complications varying degrees of severity: from complications, such as superinfection of lesions, to complications at the level of the nervous system, such as stroke, deafness, damage to nerve fibers … “.

The doctor notes that the most common complication is postherpetic neuralgia. “It appears in 10% of patients suffering from herpes zoster, and among these, it may appear in 50% of patients over 60 years of age and in 75% of patients over 70 years of age.”adds the specialist.