5 Shingles Myths Your Doctor Wants You to Stop Believing
The idea that you can "catch" shingles is a common misconception. Patients often worry they've got it after being near someone with chickenpox or shingles.
As a GP, this misunderstanding is encountered frequently. A study from the University of Bristol found that most patients had heard of shingles, but few understood what it is.
Shingles isn't something you catch from someone else. It's the reactivation of a virus already inside your body: the varicella-zoster virus, the same one that causes chickenpox.
After recovering from chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in nerve cells for years or decades. Shingles occurs when the virus "wakes up".
Author's summary: Shingles is a viral reactivation, not a contagious disease.
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