Roughly 3 in every 1000 UK residents suffer from shingles every year. Today, shingles is one of the most common skin diseases. It is estimated that 20% of the population will suffer from it at some point in their lives.
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Shingles is a pathology that is linked to a virus called VZV (for varicella-zoster virus) and belongs to the family Herpesviridae. It is a bit unusual because it is caused by a reactivation of this virus. As the name suggests, VZV is the agent responsible for chicken pox. More than 90% of adults have already contracted it. However, even after chicken pox is cured and disappears, not all viruses are eliminated.
Some viruses remain in the body and hide at the level of the nervous ganglia. With age, diseases, or a deficiency of the immune system, these viruses can be reactivated in the ganglia. This creates an inflammatory reaction that travels up the nerves to the skin and causes a skin rash that resembles chicken pox.
Shingles can appear on different areas of the skin but it can also appear on other levels, including the eyes. This always happens through the nerves. Typically, the disease occurs in adults over the age of 45, with risk increasing in people over the age of 70. The disease very rarely occurs in children.
