An insidious disease that has just recently returned to the headlines for famous people who are suffering from it, such as NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, or singer Justin Bieber. This is theHerpes Zosterthe so-called ‘St. Anthony’s Fire’, a disease capable of causing a rash capable of affecting the nerve structures along the facial nerve and facial paralysisas he explains Claudio Mastroianni, president of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (Simit), on the sidelines of the Icar- Italian Conference on Aids and Antiviral Research which took place in Bergamo. “Herpes Zoster is an infectious disease caused by the varicella zoster virus, usually a reactivation of a latent infection. It causes serious complications not only in the skin, but above all it causes neuralgia that can last for months, as well as ocular complications and also cerebrovascular “, underlines the specialist. (Video)
Those most at risk you get herpes zoster infection belong to the vast category of immunocompromised, HIV-infected patients or oncohaematological patients following immunosuppressive therapies, solid organ transplant patients or dialysis patients. A large-scale observational study (almost 2 million patients involved), conducted by GSK in the United States and published in the journal ‘Open Forum Infectious Diseases’ published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, also highlighted a possible link between Covid-19 and Shingles in people over the age of 50, in the first 6 months following the diagnosis of contagion.
A bond also remarked by Mastroianni: “Recently there have been reports of activation of the varicella zoster virus with the onset of Herpes Zoster in patients who have had SARS CoV-2 infection. and this is mainly caused by a dysregulation of the immune system that can lead to the reactivation of this virus “. However, there is” an important weapon to prevent Herpes Zoster “and” a safe and effective vaccine “, highlights Mastroianni who specifies:” Vaccination is recommended for adults over the age of 50, but also for all people over the age of 19 who are immunocompromised “and who are undergoing therapy with immunosuppressive drugs.