After scrubbing and staining the roof terrace one autumn day last year, Jan Skjerven began to feel muscle pain. The pain lasted for a few days before he started getting a rash on parts of his upper body. Then the alarm bells started ringing. The 74-year-old made an urgent appointment with the doctor and his suspicions were confirmed; shingles. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk of getting shingles later in life through reactivation of the chickenpox virus. After one has had chickenpox, the virus will continue to be in the body in nerve nodes along the spinal cord. Jan Skjerven says that it is only Putin that he indulges in hellfire. The rash put him out of work for six weeks. Photo: Private If they reappear, you can develop herpes zoster, also called shingles. It can happen as a result of, among other things, illness, stress or mental strain. It is estimated that one in four people who have had chickenpox will develop shingles. In Norway, around 13,000 people are affected each year. Symptoms and complications related to shingles Symptoms: Tingling or burning pain in a limited area of skin. Rash, usually on one side of the body. malaise, fatigue and headache may occur. Complications: Prolonged pain that can last for months or years. Infection and damage to the eye. More rare are strokes, hearing loss, scarring and paralysis. Source: GSK. – Sweat all the time Jan says that his roommate had shingles the same year, in the spring. So when the rash came, he was sure what it was. And it is not without reason that it is called hellfire. – It was incredibly painful. It stung all the time and it was uncomfortable to wear clothes. That’s why I mostly went shirtless all the time. At the doctor, he was given a cream that alleviated a little, but in order to alleviate the symptoms of shingles, it must be treated as early as possible. Preferably before the rash appears. – If I had gone to the doctor as soon as I felt the muscle pain, it would probably have helped. When NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg had hellfire last year, he had to cancel several meetings. Biathlonist Marte Olsbu Røiseland feared for the start of the season last year after an outbreak of shingles: Increases with age Terje Tollåli is a doctor at the Vaccine Clinic in Bodø. He says that you see an increase in shingles among the population in Norway. – The risk of getting shingles increases after the age of 50. Then there are several things that weaken our immune system, and it is this that can reactivate the chickenpox virus. Terje Tollåli, doctor at the Vaccine Clinic in Bodø, would pay for the shingles vaccine himself. But efforts are being made to get the vaccine on a blue prescription. Photo: Nordlandssykehuset And if you’ve had shingles before, according to Tollåli, it’s easier to get it again. – When I see patients who have had it, I think I really don’t want to get it. Several people have to be admitted to hospital as a result of shingles, especially if the rash affects the cranial nerves and thus the eyes, ears and face, says Tollåli. The doctor in Bodø is therefore clear that he would pay for a vaccine against shingles. Not aware of vaccine Are Stuwitz Berg is a specialist in children’s diseases, senior physician and department director at the department for infection control and vaccination at FHI. He tells news that in 2017 a vaccine called Shingrix came on the market. According to Stuwitz Berg, this provides over 97 percent protection against shingles in people over 50 years of age. For people over 70 and 80, it provides over 91 percent protection. – A previous vaccine could not be given to people with a weakened immune system, but Shingrix can, says the senior doctor. Are Stuwitz Berg, department director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, says that the relatively new vaccine against shingles is up to 97 percent effective. Photo: Torstein Bøe The old vaccine also only had a protection of between 50 and 60 per cent. Work is now underway to make the new vaccine available on blue prescription. Because if you pay from your own pocket, the price can reach NOK 4,000. Many people are not aware that there is a vaccine at all, according to Tollåli at the Vaccine Clinic in Bodø. Jan Skjerven wishes he knew about the vaccine. – I have not heard anything about it. But after the roommate had it, I would have definitely taken the vaccine if I had known about it, he says. SMALL BLISTERS: One of the biggest risk factors for developing shingles is a weakened immune system, either due to old age or immune-suppressing diseases or drugs. The image is intended as an illustration. Photo: Francisco Diaz Pagador / Getty Images/iStockphoto Ten weeks of pain For Jan, he had to take time to help. Although he has turned 74, he has worked as a bus driver since reaching retirement age. Shingles kept him home from work for six weeks. With pain every time he moved his upper body, it became the only option. According to Skjerven, it took around ten weeks for the rash and the pain to completely disappear. – If you have not done anything that naturally causes muscle pain, then it is an advantage to contact a doctor to see if it is shingles.
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Shingles affects adults – the vaccine Shingrix may end up on blue prescriptions – news Nordland
