Does Stress Cause Shingles in Seniors?

You’re at risk for shingles if you’ve ever had chickenpox. That’s because the varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox, is also responsible for shingles.

Shingles can occur in people of any age, but it usually affects about one million seniors annually.

But, what activates shingles?

It isn’t clear why the varicella-zoster virus reactivates in some people and not others, according to researchers.

People often think of stress as a trigger for shingles, but researchers have looked at this potential link, and can’t find one.

Some research reports shingles is activated when a patient’s immune system is weakened, as when we age, or take immune-suppressing drugs. But why does it also sometimes happen in seemingly healthy people?

This contradiction isn’t unusual, but it can make it difficult to figure out what it all means.

Clinical researchers do report a consensus that T-cell immunity plays a key role in controlling reactivation.

Additionally, psychological stress has commonly been considered to be a trigger for herpes.

Moreover, this contention has been supported by several, but not all, studies.

But, new research using case-only methods to investigate this premise, found no evidence that stress triggers herpes.

Case-only methods are powerful because they are self-matched, eliminating effects of selection bias and measured or unmeasured time-invariant confounders.

But implications of this HZ research are unclear, and may be conjectural.

This new study has limitations, as it is based on administrative data, so misclassifications are possible.

These researchers say patients should, however, immediately seek care for suspected HZ so that the illness can be controlled and curtailed with timely antiviral treatment and pain management, regardless of the underlying HZ trigger.

Meanwhile, for persons aged 60 years and older, effective vaccines are available that can help prevent this disabling disease.

Recently, The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Shingrix (Zoster Vaccine Recombinant, Adjuvanted) for the prevention of shingles (herpes zoster) in adults aged 50 years and older.

But, Shingrix has not been approved for the prevention of chickenpox.

Shingrix is a non-live, recombinant subunit vaccine given intramuscularly in two doses. It combines an antigen, glycoprotein E, and an adjuvant system, AS01B, intended to generate a strong and long-lasting immune response that can help overcome the decline in immunity as people age.

By preventing shingles, Shingrix reduces the overall incidence of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a form of chronic nerve pain and the most common complication associated with shingles.

Most pharmacies offer shingles vaccines. The retail price of this vaccine varies based upon insurance coverage and location.

Vaccine discounts can be found here.

This study was published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. This work is written by US Government employees.