How Does Chickenpox Turn Into Shingles?

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You might know that chickenpox and shingles are both caused by the same virus, varicella zoster. Here's why the symptoms, and even the vaccines, are different the second time around.
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[@SciShow]

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[@seanrowshandel1680]

I got shingles at age 25. Maybe it's gotta be investigated. Many people from my generation are getting this problem at a different age than the previous generation

[@seanrowshandel1680]

@@ArawnOfAnnwn don't talk back to me like that. This isn't your parliament

[@ryangooseling]

How does the 5th disease give immunity from chicken pox

[@Ratlins9]

The narrator for this video spoke like she was in a speed reading competition.

[@AokiZeto]

if it is shingles we can help it to find a partner?… …yes i just did that ur welcome

[@keyholes]

As someone who is old enough to have had chicken pox as a child, I'm so grateful (and envious!) that there's now a vaccine. Thanks science!

[@rjgaynor8]

Word. They came out with the vaccine the year after I got Chicken pox. I am grateful my kids won’t get it.

[@bazza945]

Had the vaccine (free) because I'd seen and heard about people who had suffered with the affliction.

[@thexanderthemander]

I had the vaccine and I still got chicken pox :/

[@sara_387]

@@thexanderthemander In Australia they only give one dose of the vaccine which greatly reduces rates of hospitalisation but means that you can still get chicken pox. Even with 2 doses there are still breakthrough cases. "Currently, approximately 1 in 10 vaccinated children may develop mild breakthrough disease following exposure to chickenpox." Chicken pox in previously vaccinated individuals is usually mild.

[@Adohleas]

Same here, I have a couple siblings with shingles and I sure hope I don't get shingles as the vaccine didn't exist when I was a child.

[@Dingo-x]

My grandson currently has shingles and he is aged five! He caught chicken pox off his elder brother when he was only a few days old. Fortunately he only had mild symptoms of the chicken pox at the time. I only thought that adults could suffer from shingles until the doctor diagnosed my grandson with it.

[@GodZefir]

That's insane, I had no idea you could get it that young either. I hope he gets better.

[@WindsorMason]

​@@GodZefir stress can bring it out at any age.

[@theKaraProject]

I also had a mild case of shingles when I was 4!

[@FirebladesSong]

One of my uncles just went straight to shingles from the first infection at 5 years old.

[@TheInvisibleHorse]

Anecdotally I'm seeing parents say this often lately, it's likely that the damage to the immune system from covid is allowing chicken pox to progress to shingles quickly rather than be suppressed.

[@yayhandles]

Came down with shingles at 28; easily the sickest I've ever been in my life. Now I understand the shingles horror stories I'd previously heard. I can very easily see it being life-threatening for the elderly and immuno-compromised.

[@orderofthebeard]

I had it about 21, so very painful

[@odnetnin4720]

Yep, I had it in my mid 30s. I don’t want that again.

[@geniuswithacapitalk]

I had shingles at 33 after a few weeks of steroid treatment for a skin condition, easily the most painful thing I’ve experienced and I had broken bones before. There were days I would just knock out with sleeping medication just to not feel the pain.

[@Soturi92]

For me it was just extremely painful like I had a UTI and then it erupted into my skin so then it became itchy. Doctors are baffled as to why people my age are getting shingles and other blood diseases. I’m 30, had shingles at 24, also have high BP and high cholesterol. All seems sus to me….. even to my parents who are healthy.

[@Xangoose1]

I had it last year at 27, I was so sick! Would not wish that on anyone :(

[@karakol86]

As someone who has had shingles THREE times before the age of 30, thanks for making this video! I didn't really have chicken pox as a child --only a really really mild case. I first had shingles when I was 6 or 7 and it was all over me. Also had a friend who got it around age 33.

[@rationallyruby]

Same with my sister she had a mild chicken pox at one year old then had shingles at 18 months old then had another mild chicken pox when she was 7!

[@simpleshoes]

⁠@ReichwingConspiratorya you’re right. I know, I’m 65 and I had it late last year and I know plenty of people my age who’ve had shingles, and I’ll be getting the Shingrix vaccine this year. It doesn’t come out all over. Mine came out pretty much the same level as yours!

[@sunitafisher4758]

🌸 shingles only affects part of you body, but you have to contract chicken pox first I believe what you described as chicken pox, but you didn’t have a mild case of it My mom got chicken pox as child, then later life got shingles around her right eye Which was extremely painful, long after it healed This is the evil gift of shingles, it can cause horrible pain in nerve areas I had chicken pox mild as an adult, then again later in life, mild again I got it from lunatic woman from my class that decided to hid her infected body in her religious outfit and infected the whole school over a week. It was shut down due to pregnant teachers catching it, young women who never had it before including myself I will take that vaccine later in life to prevent shingles as it’s just horrible

[@laner.845]

My wife has had it twice now, both before the age of 30. But it's been a decade now and no more instances. I, on the other hand, never even had chickenpox as a kid. My mom sent me to chicken pox parties every year with the little kids until I was 12 and refused to go anymore.

[@dasammit]

Same! I never had CP as a kid, but I had a massive outbreak of Shingles at age 12 that almost killed me.

[@drewsaunders2531]

Had chicken pox the first time at 3, and as any good immunologist will tell you, you don't always get a full immune response at that age, so I got it again at 19! Yay! I got it from a dorm mate who had shingles. When I turned 50, I qualified for the shingles vaccine, but Shingrix wasn't out yet, only the previous live attenuated vaccine, and I was going through chemo at the time, so they wouldn't give me the vaccine. The next year, Shingrix had just been approved, but supplies were limited, so only people 60+ or with underlying issues (and I was long since done with chemo, so didn't qualify), could get it. For my 52nd birthday, I was very happy to get Shingrix!

[@montyollie]

I had chicken pox twice, too, as well as mono at 16 and then shingles at 45. Shingrix at 48... hoping that's it, but who knows!

[@SwapPartLLC]

I had it twice as a kid. I don't remember how old I was. 4 to 6 probably. What I do remember is the itchy spots and having to be basted with calamine lotion.

[@bonnecherie]

I'm probably one of the few that's had it numerous times, each in a different state. I worry what shingles is gonna be like for me 8'D

[@ravenstarwind]

Had chicken pox 3 times, at 4 and 23. Then at 44, my 10-year-old came home with a strain spreading throughout the school full of vaccinated kids.

[@mandiemoore3272]

I'm another one of those few and there's about one in every 500 is one of us people look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them though. I've had it 11 times

[@austinfreyrikrw6651]

Oh yeah, my elderly mother got shingles and it was so bad she basically lost the use of her left hand due to pain and motor nerve damage. People, please please get your shingles vaccine.

[@HOLDENPOPE]

how long has this shingles vaccine been available again?

[@nunyabiznes33]

Would it do anything if you've already had chickenpox before?

[@Hyperlophus]

⁠@@nunyabiznes33 yes, it prevents the virus from causing shingles. If you’ve had chicken pox, then you are at risk of shingles. I think the newest vaccine reports a really good percentage of effectiveness, like high 90s, in preventing shingles.

[@bearcubdaycare]

​@@HOLDENPOPE Oct 20, 2017

[@hestiathena4917]

Believe me, the _nanosecond_ I'm eligible for a shingles jab, I'm gettin' it! I had my case around 4-5 years before the vaccine was available, and although I didn't need a hospital visit, it was _not_ a fun week, and I don't want to know how bad a "Shingles Boogaloo" could end up for me. Terribly sorry about your mom...

[@AndiNewtonian]

Talk about timely! I just got my second Shingrix shot on Wednesday. I was pretty miserable yesterday, but feeling much, much better today. Definitely worth it to avoid shingles. When I had chickenpox as a child, I was COVERED with the blisters. Even in my ears, on my eyelids, between my toes. EVERYWHERE! I stopped eating and almost had to be hospitalized. I still remember my stepmom telling me that if I didn't eat something, anything, they'd have to put me in the hospital and feed me through a tube. She looked and sounded so scared that I agreed to eat some green jello. That woman made so much jello for me. But it kept me out of the hospital. My sister, who's the one who infected me, got three blisters. THREE! Totally unfair.

[@pjeaton58]

I got chickenpox blisters all over, including my you know what !

[@ikawba00]

What's unfair is getting a permanent skeletal deformity from your mother and she only had 1 small deformity. I got the full deal.

[@doradean3097]

How long can the Shingrex vaccination protect a person from shingles?

[@varyolla435]

@@doradean3097 Latest data seems to indicate it can produce up to 80% efficacy for at least 10 years post-vaccination. On a side note. Incidence of Chickenpox following mass vaccination has in the past 20 years dropped precipitously in the US - about 84%. This means your chances of being exposed via community exposure is significantly less and thus hopefully having not been exposed any dormant virus will not be triggered to recur. While not always the case you could potentially be exposed to Chickenpox to see the virus reanimate as a result.

[@WouldbeRenaissanceLady6926]

Me too! My daughter caught it and brought it home to Momma, she had six blisters, I had it aged 27 absolutely covered all over scalp, around eyes and even on my tongue!😱 I was also pretty sick with it too. Going to get vaccinated against shingles shortly.👍

[@bass777chick]

Important to note! EBV (the virus that causes mono) doesn’t always reappear as another mono infection; it can sometimes reappear later in life as multiple sclerosis! Research as to *why* is still ongoing.

[@ghostratsarah]

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease, there could be a link, but there's no way mono is presenting as MS. They are completely different mechanisms.

[@oldbatwit5102]

@@ghostratsarah Mono doesn't 'present' as MS, it causes it. Epstein-Barr produces proteins that mimic a protein in the myelin sheath. When the immune system makes antibodies to attack the virus, they also attack the myelin. If you’re not infected with E.B.V., your risk of M.S. is virtually zero. After infection, your risk jumps by over 30-fold. The odds of that increase having occurred by chance are less than one in a million.

[@ElectronDonor]

​@@ghostratsarahEBV leads to those autoimmune responses. There are new studies. The same also seems to be happening in some cases of Long Covid. COVID - - EBV reactivation - - immune response - - autoimmune responses - - Myalgia, neuro-inflammation, etc on top of the vascular damage from Covid.

[@harpo5420]

My first MS attack happened months after a serious case of chicken pox in my late teens, and have always considered there is a link.

[@patpierce4854]

I caught chickenpox at about 7 and shared it with my two younger sisters (5 and 2). In grad school one of my married students’s children had a case of chicken pox, which combined with all the stresses of grad school, brought out my case of shingles at the “elderly” age of 23! It was really painful, especially since there was absolutely no way for me to take any time away from classes to get better. When my own son was born two decades later, I was thrilled to discover there was now a vaccine for chicken pox. Even more recently, I’ve gotten the two separate doses for the shingles vaccine (word of advice - I don’t recommend getting a bivalent Covid booster at the same time one gets the shingles second dose … ). I was an infant when the USA was phasing out the smallpox vaccine. Neither of my two younger sisters received it, but I did. Our pediatrician vaccinated me in my back, at a spot he knew I would not be able to reach to scratch as the scab healed and formed its scar. While most adults my age have a recognizable smallpox vaccine scar on an upper arm, mine is on my back, only visible in a mirror when I am drying off from a shower. I also vividly remember getting my oral polio vaccine as drops on a sugar cube.

[@montyollie]

Funny... I used to get weekly allergy shots as well as my annual flu vaccine. One year I got them either the same day or a day apart, and my arm swelled up like I had a sickarette pack rolled up in it at the site of the injection. My doctor said the allergy shot put my body into "attack and kill mode" for attacking foreign bodies... and the contents of the flu shot were a foreign body! Or vice versa. Yeah, now that I think about it, it was probably the opposite. Anyhow, I got better, but it was so alarming at first!!

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

I'm very curious about your age, with all those transitional periods. That's really interesting!

[@darcihoudeshell2588]

I caught chickenpox at age two or three, and shared it with my older sister. At age five I was diagnosed with Lupus. It's kinda weird but I was vaccinated with smallpox twice and I have NO scar. Had a doctor tell me that I might have a natural immunity to smallpox? Doesn't make sense to me.

[@Goro_Maj1ma]

Lol at the pediatrician giving you a vaccine at the spot of your back you wouldn't he able to reach. I can scratch any part of my back against a wall so that wouldn't have worked on me.

[@moobs]

Had chicken pox at 3 and got shingles at 17 lol. Probably was the most stressful year of my life too.

[@FunkyBukkyo]

I am still far from 50 and I already had shingles. I'm not immunocompromised either. I think the vaccine should be recommended earlier than 50. If I would have known, I could have mitigated this earlier and reduce the probability of me getting it. Sections of my face that were affected are still numb to this day. This was far worse and painful than chicken pox. People should be able to mitigate this earlier in life.

[@airwriq]

Ditto, at 43 years old on new years day 2022 got Ramsey Hunt Syndrome bad. I still cant smile.

[@HotTakeAndy]

I agree. I don’t understand why it’s not.

[@damonedwards1544]

I am generally in good health, and I got shingles when I was 35.

[@bulletproofair]

Completely agree that shingle vaccine should be recommended around college age! I got shingles on my left side face @ 33. I do have permanent eyesight damage and numbness next to my eye. My doctor didn't take it seriously on my first visit and it got so bad 😖. Do you ever have a feeling of like...maggots crawling under your skin in the numb area?

[@datadrain6564]

Wait you said that your govt not give you chickenpox for free??? Lol here we get it in childhood For most in their elementary years I myself never have pox up till now because of it (I'm 32)

[@unwarranteddesign806]

Shingles can be quite awful to deal with. A number of years ago I ended up with a shingles rash on my side and didn't realize what it was. I scratched it and then without thinking rubbed my one eye with the same hand. As a result I ended up with a corneal ulcer caused by the virus that had me admitted to the eye ward of one of the local hospitals for two weeks for treatment. It was the most painful thing I've ever gone through.

[@aasemal-lmki8286]

6th year medical student here 🌚. I always wonder about how come Shingles and chickenpox have the same virus yet they presentation can differ vastly without overlap on the skin rash manifested. And never had the energy to look for the answer. Thank you SciShow for putting this valuable information in such digestible and fun way ❤

[@starrywizdom]

Thanks for being a med student.

[@goodmaro]

The part that always amazed me was how Shingrix could have any effect when the whole virus was already resident and presumably constantly reminding the specific immune system of what the surface proteins would react as.

[@markarca6360]

That is the VZV (Varicella-Zoster Virus). Additionally, shingles was otherwise called herpes zoster.

[@TEXAS-SMITH]

"Why" not "How come" sounds more learned for 6 years of school. Just trying to help you out.

[@laner.845]

@@TEXAS-SMITH the lack of initiative to go learn something about their chosen field has me far more concerned than their grammar.

[@Ashley-vg8fv]

I had shingles at 17, 10 years later I'm still terrified it'll come back. So incredibly painful.

[@MasterMayhem78]

A few years ago I got hit with shingles. Just a small patch on my arm, not a big issue. Went away after about a week.

[@1acid1]

@@MasterMayhem78 lucky! i had it on my face :(

[@Dockhead]

@@MasterMayhem78 yeah seems cases of it differ massively, i had it spread and scar all over my groin/hip&ass and wasn’t painful but maybe sensitive

[@reiniernn9071]

This differs from person to person. I've got that 10 years ago with minor issues, not even painfull. Just itchy. But a few years before that the oldest brother of my dad died from the shingles (at that moment 90+ in age)

[@LIK64]

I've had it 5 times started at 13 yrs old

[@ellenwood719]

I had shingles twice in my 49's, and I took the vaccine because I don't want it again. It was terribly painful, even after the blisters were gone.

[@cindyhoomalu1566]

I’m worried about shingles at 46, but my doctors tell me every time I ask that I am too young. When I had chicken pox, it came back every time that I got sick at all for about 2 years. They said that it was unusual, but maybe had something to do with having cystic fibrosis and while my immune system was distracted trying to fight whatever virus I came across it would just pop back up. It was very strange.

[@birtarb07]

Shingles VACCINE?! HOW HAVE I NEVER HEARD THIS?! I have had shingles over 6 times now and I am only 31. It's the absolute worst thing ever

[@joscelynvos5473]

I got shingles when I was 11. It can happen at any age! So don't think it only happens to old people. Make sure to know the sings and get treatment right away because it really does suck A LOT!

[@tomdillan]

My brother got shingles at 19.

[@julietkoski8202]

I had it at 22! Can happen at any age for sure

[@Stabilization]

Yup! I got it at 4. And a lady in the comment section said their baby got it within their first year of their life. Literally anybody can get shingles, so it’s important to get your chicken pox and shingles vaccines and keep yourself up to date on them! :) I don’t even know when I’m due for my next one whoops I’ll check tomorrow

[@marquisdemoo1792]

As has been said, it ain't over until the fat lady 'sings'. Dyslexia rules KO!

[@ghostratsarah]

​​@@Stabilization you can't get the shingles vaccine if your under 50 or under 19 if you have a compromised immune system. At least in the US and UK, don't know about other countries' policies on it.

[@fungushoney9958]

I'm certainly not qualified to be making corrections, but since mono is mentioned so many times, scientists have recently connected mono infections with the later onset of MS (multiple sclerosis). This definitely goes hand in hand with the theme of "a herpesvirus contracted decades ago re-manifests as something completely different"

[@johnnyearp52]

I had mono and then got POTS!

[@Bex666]

Me/cfs as well!

[@ghostratsarah]

Correlation does not equal causation. There is a link, but that is not evidence of mono presenting as MS, just that for some reason people who get mono have a higher chance of MS. MS is an autoimmune disease, it cannot be caused by a virus, but it can be initially triggered by one. Most people with autoimmune diseases will have them rear their head after a stressful life event- Mono being a common trigger.

[@ghostratsarah]

​​@@johnnyearp52 POTS is an autoimmune disease (depending on the type, according to most recent research), and mono is a disease known to make autoimmune diseases present themselves. It doesn't cause them, though, just triggers the glitch that was already there. I developed POTS after a flu as a baby, and it's gotten progressively worse with every stressful life event, illness, and flu vaccine.

[@johnnyearp52]

@@ghostratsarah Do you have Ehlers Danlos?

[@Cruznick06]

My mom got shingles due to her covid19 infection. She still has pain along her abdomen nearly a year later. I'm so grateful she got me vaccinated against Chicken Pox as soon as the vaccine was available.

[@lfior]

Hank making sure we learn about shingles and chickenpox after he got shingles last year is just gold

[@Kleineganz]

I was part of an early trial of the Chicken Pox vaccine as a kid. I didn't even realize it was a trial until years later when the vaccine came into widespread use. I remember I was surprised because I knew I'd gotten the vaccine and had a mild chicken pox infection from the vaccine. Now I'm old enough to need the shingles vaccine (I've already had my first dose. Second one due in another month).

[@kathi16323]

What year was that? I know she quoted the 90's for the starting date of chicken pox vaccine but when I went back to school in 1984 I had to get it to return to school..and both my kid born in 83 and 86 had the vaccine....oh and just to answer the question of high school and baby over lap yes I was a teen mom!!

[@Kleineganz]

@Kathi Rodgers it would have been in 1979, when I was either 1st or 2nd grade. I don't remember much, other than kicking and screaming a lot because I was terrified of needles, and then staying home from school because I got this itchy rash. My grandmother told me it was a mild form of chicken pox because of the shot I had.

[@susannahallanic1167]

Although my mother believed I never had chickenpox, I obviously did. My first episode of shingles began when I passed a kidney stone shortly after moving to France. That's probably why the doctor I visited diagnosed me as 'depressed'. Regardless, and I was depressed, I knew and still know shingles when I see the eruptions. Actually, I now know it while my body is experiencing the very early symptoms preceding the blistering rash. That was 51 years old. Now at 73, I know the enemy well. Yes, It breaks through with every stressful event. I got rid, apparently, of ever having to endure another kidney stone by radically changing my diet. But not so with shingles. I've been to 4 medical doctors while having the rash, and all have told me it only happens once. That is not true. It attacks whenever I allow myself to be too stressed. So, not all bad. I've learned to calm. What I cannot overcome, though, is meeting with family members. Those events are always stressful, and as such, I always am stricken with some of the symptoms of a viral attack. Those precursors are about a week before the eruptions. The eruptions, large or small, last about 10 days. No big deal. The precursors last about 10 days: minor headaches, joint soreness, trouble sleeping, a stuffy nose, and trouble focusing eyesight and attention. I know where the break out will be because that area tingles. If I touch it, there is no sensation other than my finger's sensitivity. I mean, the area where the eruption will be is a bit more sensitive, kind of like a T-shirt tag irritation. My eruptions are uncomfortable. Maybe I am lucky? I think so. After the precursors, I know it is only 2 to 5 weeks before I recover. I've learned not to obsess, to realize my fears, and reassure myself. Also, to monitor my days. I am an elder now, so predictability is a reassurance, while I also try to see every unpredictable occurrence as a plot twist. In other words, I've admitted I am frail.

[@rustythegreatandpowerfulla2676]

You never had the Shingles vaccine? It is possible to have asymptotic Chicken Pox, or you could just have one or two that would be easy to miss.

[@kap4020]

You are very well self-aware, sir. I hope i become as self aware one day

[@jooleebilly]

I had chicken pox when I was 4, and it wasn't too terrible, iirc. Then, like you(!) I got a kidney stone, kidney became infected, high fever, 5 days in hospital. I got out and went back to work and noticed about a week later that my right forearm felt *hot* but not hot to the touch. A couple of days later, I looked over my shoulder and there was a small patch of blisters that looked like whiteheads. Me, being a picker, scratched at one of them, trying to pop it. OH MY GOD THE PAIN. It was like being electrocuted all up my shoulder and neck, and down my arm. Did NOT do that again. Went to the doctor same day, and he pushed back my shirt at the back of my shoulder and asked "Is this is?" I said, no no, that's a pimple. It's further in." Then he saw the patch of ouchies and said "Oh! That's shingles." I had actually thought shingles was an STI of some kind until then. But I got lucky because I was: 1) only 30, and 2) they'd recently come out with some antivirals. He gave me something called "FamVir" and I had what felt like a mild flu for a week or so, then the pustules (ew, I hate that word) dried out. I was banned from work because 4 people there had never gotten chickenpox, and apparently they could have from the (ew) fluid inside the (ew) pustules. Like you, I SWEAR I've had it at least 2-3 times since then, all in my 30s, but people said you can only get it once - in the 1990s and early 2000s. I have a friend who's a nurse and she had a terribly stressful year and got it like 3 times. So she called shenanigans on the idea that you can only get it once. Doctors asked me if I wanted to get the Shingles vaccine back then, but when I told them I'd had shingles, it turns out the first vaccine was about as effective as having shingles (aka not very) Then they came out with a new one that works way better and way longer. I got that series of 2 shots because they said that one was worth it. First shot, my arm was sore. Then a few weeks later, I got the 2nd one and it laid me out! Not as long as shingles had, so I'm glad I got it.

[@jooleebilly]

By the way, what a great attitude you have! My dad calls unpredictable twists and turns in life "Embarking on a new adventure." I think that's how he's doing so well at 90! I have come to the conclusion, at 55, with several lifelong conditions that cause chronic joint degeneration (among others), I'm feeling pretty lucky to be mobile at all! So I've made my peace with not being young anymore. Dammit. But I'm glad I did all the fun, dumb stuff when I was young, and lived to tell the tale!

[@sunnylou204]

I do not know why people tell you you can only get shingles once there is what they call chronic shingles and you can get them multiple times comes from having autoimmune disease. You can look it up on the Internet it explains it.

[@fariesz6786]

our biology teacher mentioned chicken pox and the shingles as an example when teaching us about retroviruses. she added something along the lines of "but shingles is sonething only old people get" roughly three weeks later i was in hospital with the left side of my face riddled with blisters: shingles in the trigeminal nerve at age 17

[@Mojohjohjoh]

In 99, I was 4 and my brother was 5 and we both got chicken pox from preschool. My dad is from Ireland and never had it as a kid so he got it from us. While we were miserable for a few days, he was in bed for weeks

[@Tinil0]

Yup, I got shingles when I was 27. Also got the joy of post-herpetic neuralgia which is, like mentioned, when the pain persists past the actual lesion outbreak. It primarily appeared on my left leg, and I ended up in HORRIFIC pain, and even after it was gone the pain mostly remained. It took over a year to finally get back to normal and I was able to no longer use a cane to get around...

[@LukeCorte]

Also got it on my left leg. I was 33

[@ghostratsarah]

I was lucky in that my outbreak completely destroyed the nerves that it effected, so there wasn't much pain after a couple of days. The bullet wound like scar is still completely numb after 17 years (got it when I was 10)

[@Tinil0]

@@ghostratsarah Oh man! That totally reminds me of something I don't think about often, it DID make my left foot specifically numb. I worried for a time I was diabetic or something with peripheral neuropathy. It was very strange feeling, it wasn't completely gone but it was alien to feel anything on my foot after the pain ended for it. It took, gosh, probably 8 years or so of very slow, gradual improvement to get to the point where it no longer felt numb all the time.

[@Tinil0]

@@LukeCorte Was it really brutal for you? I was told that the leg is a bit more rare than the torso/arm though it affecting one side is normal. I was also told that the leg tends to be a worse outbreak that is more painful, though admittedly getting it on the head is worst because it can make you permanently blind...

[@marcelinorodriguez7628]

I had it on my back and chest at 33, but the pain went away after a month, it was hell

[@haleyq9444]

IIRC, there was a relatively recent study about shingles being found in the brain plaques present in some forms of dementia with a strong hypothesis that it contributed to the onset and/or progression of symptoms. I might have to go back and check of there's any updates on that...

[@roxyiconoclast]

Well there was just a study finding that a shingles vaccine slashes the risk of dementia. It’s available as a preprint now on MedRxiv as “Causal evidence that herpes zoster vaccination prevents a proportion of dementia cases.”

[@neerajwa]

I am one of those unfortunate ones who got attacked by shingles. And that was the first time I heard of this disease. I was 36 at that time. And I don't think I was immunocompromised. I rarely get infectious diseases even today ie, 9 years later. There is extreme lack of awareness about shingles. If I knew about this, I would have certainly taken this vaccine.

[@Paranitis]

I work as a Pharmacy Clerk and I recommend the shingles vaccine (Shingrix) to everyone who is 50+ (because that's all we can give it to), and the amount of people who say no because "you don't know what chemicals are in it!" meanwhile they are picking up their 8 other meds, is hilariously stupid.

[@48boltz15]

Heeeeeeyyyy, I know this video hasn't even been out an hour, but can you make a part two discussing how shingles are showing up in some younger people? Like I had shingles when I was 17 and it was years later when I realized/learned how unusual it was.

[@DanielSolis]

Second this request. My wife got it in her late 20s, apparently triggered by a very stressful time.

[@lh3540]

I knew a girl that had it at 29

[@mspooner]

I had a friend in high school who got it senior year. And because I have a wonky immune system and have both Zoster AND, as an adult, acquired it's common cousin, I'm more motivated to get the shingles vaccine (I was too old to get the vaccine before I caught chickenpox) as soon as possible.

[@nothingnothing1799]

Probably due to increased stress

[@Bendylife]

my younger siblings got it as a kid and I got it at 22, I think anything that weekends your immune system could potentially trigger it, so stress is a huge factor.

[@YasuTaniina]

I was sort of wondering when the chicken pox vaccine became a thing. Of course it was the year after I got chicken pox as a kid. It wasn't fun having, but it was far from the worst thing in the world, even for a 4 year old like me. 3-4 days of itchyness, and that's it. Mono as a 21 year old however. Let's put it this way, it was an incredibly miserable 3-4 months and my health has never been the same. I'm now chronically ill, and it took years to get a diagnosis.

[@datadrain6564]

In my country it provide by government and every child need to take it I never have pox before because of it

[@dianavp9054]

Same here with mono age 20 or 21.

[@ceciliaFX]

In the US the chicken pox vaccine was out in the mid 1990s.

[@nickandres7829]

I got chicken pox at age five and it lasted almost three weeks. I remember they gave me this zinc-like white ointment I had to keep slathering myself with to keep the itching at bay. I also got mono at age 35. Mine only lasted two months, and I fully recovered, but it was rough. It was like having a mild flu with a very high fever. Every night at 3 am I would wake up with a raging fever and a migraine. The migraines were so bad, I couldn't do anything to cool myself down except for laying on the ceramic tiles in the bathroom until the fever subsided. I ended up needing T3s just to sleep through the night.

[@shiteetah]

We had a chicken pox outbreak out in our military base back in 87. Something tells me there’s a potential battalion’s worth of vaccines that are going to be needed. Super interesting, thank you!

[@coolinken]

That was very informative and you are a really good presenter. Thanks!

[@ToastbackWhale]

I got shingles when I was in college. It was the very end of the semester, and I was so stressed out between studying for finals, completing end of semester projects, and applying for grad school, that my body was like, "Ha, shingles now too!" Thankfully mine wasn't super painful like it so often is. It just *hated* water, and was extremely itchy. Doc confirmed it was shingles based on where it was and what it looked like, though. Was only in one nerve, didn't cross the midline, etc.

[@Asset1693]

I work in a haematology lab and the image they use for the white cells for EBV are more likely to be Burkitt's Lymphoma cells. I've never seen a patient positive for Infectious Mononucleosis with those cells. EBV infected lymphocytes are atypical with lots of cytoplasm that scallops(reaches out and hugs) the nearby red cells. They are actually really pretty and distinctive. I believe the image they used has been mislabeled.

[@alyssakriel9477]

Really enjoyed this video. Great presentation and so Informative in a short length video. Thanks for posting!

[@kjwong4730]

Great and informative. Thank you

[@KristenRowenPliske]

Cases of chickenpox are becoming so rare that some pediatricians, and other young doctors, don’t recognize it when kids present with it. My brother and I had chickenpox back in the early 70s. He had a bad case of it. I didn’t have to go to the hospital. My oldest daughter was born a couple years after the vaccine came out. But before I could consider giving it to her, she caught chickenpox from her older cousin. My middle two kids got the vaccine. And then my youngest m, when she was a year old, caught the chickenpox virus from my mother, who had active shingles at the time. Despite having the vaccines when I was younger, I came down with mono in high school. I haven’t had it since, so hopefully nothing more comes of it.

[@MakeTeachRepeat]

It’s being kept alive and rising thanks to a lot of well-meaning but misguided parents in friend groups not vaccinating - making for massively communities that regularly break out.

[@77becka]

This is absolutely true. We had to get a second opinion when my daughter got chicken pox at 12 because the doctor said it was just mosquito bites. Hundreds of mosquito bites all over her body, even under all her clothing. This was also a week after I had shingles. Her spots were plentiful but not super bad , according to the instacare nurse, because she was vaccinated but got it from my shingles. As a note. Cases of severe chickenpox, in those who have been vaccinated, were at that time 0%. There was not one known case of complications from chickenpox from someone who had the vaccine. There might be now but that's what the doctor told us back then.

[@TEXAS-SMITH]

@@MakeTeachRepeat These parents are not misguided. Tuskegee experiment.

[@ZenithWest169]

So I was born in 1989, became a high school teacher and learned something shocking... Where in my generation, practically every has had the chickenpox in their lifetime now no one has had. Odd to see a disease disappear in your lifetime

[@therabbithat]

Very cool. But also the vaccine isn't administed in many countries yet, they want to see what the long term affects are first. NHS: "There's a worry that introducing chickenpox vaccination for all children could increase the risk of chickenpox and shingles in adults". Lots of countries only give it to at risk kids and are waiting to see how the people who got it 30 years ago will do as they get older

[@LuvStonedDIVA]

Born in '85 here - I didn't have the chicken pox but I also had the vaccine...no major reactions to it, that was in '90. I was also given the vaccine in intervals throughout elementary school. So it's strange that she says that the vaccine didn't come out until '95 but I'm gonna guess that's worldwide. I got my first vaccine in Germany then continued here in the states, a long with the standard panel of MMR, polio, etc.

[@ZenithWest169]

@@LuvStonedDIVA from memory it was optional in the states until 95 when it added to list of (not forced but) standard array of vaccines given to children and new borns... I grew up in a very rural part of Texas so I don't think it was even heard of that there was a vaccine.. in the early 90s

[@captainsceptic3559]

The delivery of the content was fantastic. Class Acr.

[@rhondanolanbryant]

I read about this 2 weeks ago. Cool. This is put together really well.

[@nostalgiaprincess]

my sons chicken pox sent him to the ER. they were huge and he was young

[@moiseslgaristo6785]

Mine were big and caused me to lose hair on follicles permanently

[@freedomandguns3231]

Did the doctors also think it was an emergency? To be clear, I am asking out of curiosity. If I were in your shoes I too would have done the exact same thing. I seriously just don't understand how severe an infection could get as I only had a regular bout of it as a wee lad.

[@DavidZMediaisAwesome]

Was he vaccinated?

[@nostalgiaprincess]

@@freedomandguns3231 he wasn’t quite 2 years old, had a high fever and a few of the pox were bigger than a quarter. 2 actually merged together into one big one on his forehead and up past his hairline. this was in 1997-98 if that matters lol

[@nostalgiaprincess]

@@DavidZMediaisAwesome no. wasn’t huge to vaccinate for chicken pox at that time. maybe just starting to be suggested. my doctor never brought it up and it wasn’t part of the MMR vaccines they get as newborns. we had neighborhood chicken pox parties when i was young. get it all over at once for everyone.

[@Mathman420]

I have always wondered this, thanks for answering my curiosity!

[@Suburp212]

Always wondered about this. Thanks.

[@apsiedoodle]

I got chicken pox every year from age 3 until 14 years old, sometimes multiple times a year, depending on what the kids around me had. My sister and I were even part of a special study to test our blood and immune systems. (My sister only got it 3 times). I'm otherwise totally healthy! Hoping I can get the shingles vaccine someday & that it actually works for me - otherwise I'm doomed!

[@mobilephil244]

I have just had shingles. I have to say that compared to the long-term, life-ruining, paralysing agony of lumbar disc problems / sciatica etc., it isn't too bad. Wouldn't wish it on anyone nice but I've had worse several times.

[@booth403]

As someone who has had shingles ... on my left temple and across my eye socket ... I thank you for this video as a curiosity piece. But also dam, I can feel the shingles again 😅 that has to be one of the most painful experiences I ever had

[@briannam.8245]

L-lysine is said to help make shingles go away

[@miahconnell23]

@Booth403 is your eye doing alright now ? My shingles case was in the right-side of mah head to right forehead and then progressed to right eye & optic nerve. Entire right side of my face looked like a pot of burned milk. Damaged my cornea. 🙏 Thank you kind, considerate, & well-matched donor !!! 🙏. Never got good at accurately putting eye drops in, so the stearoid anti-rejection drops and nightshade-related drops funneled through tear-ducts and down my throat. Too much drops dripped into my belly too often, & it made me act INSANE. Perhaps T.M.I. there… but, protect your vision and become an organ-donor !

[@SIC647]

What an awful place to have it! I am lucky in comparison, I had it on my lower abdomen.

[@sherbearb.1593]

I now need a corneal transplant for the same reason. My steroid drops, gave me really bad mouth sores from dripping down through my tear ducts. My eye doc put a plug in my tear duct that stopped that and I am now able to use the steroids. Am hoping they help with the scarring on my cornea. How did your transplant go, and what was your healing time? I am a candidate for the transplant, but I have fears.

[@booth403]

@@sherbearb.1593 I was fortunate and didn't do much damage, just a little vision degradation, best of luck to you though.

[@michaelmayhem350]

It was chickenpox all along, always was...

[@branflakee4257]

I had chickenpox in the 4th grade, and then a month later I had shingles all around my waist. I still remember the pain and had dark marks from the blisters for a long time.

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

I was born in 1960, there was no chickenpox vaccine then. I’m so glad kids can be protected now. My case of chickenpox was mild, but it’s shingles I really fear much more.

[@felicitybywater8012]

Ditto.

[@traumajock]

1964 vintage here. I was told I had a very mild case of chicken pox at 10 months. I got the shingles vaccine last month and hope it really works.

[@Filthy_Rich_556]

I saw a video of Hanks brother John, who mentioned filling in for Hank while he was dealing with his condition, where he really gave Hank a pat on the back for all he does. I would love to see John, as I comfortable as it would be for him, to fill in on an episode of SciShow. He could totally do it.

[@jackvos8047]

I contracted chicken pox and shingles less than 10 years apart. I caught chicken pox before my siblings were born in primary school. When my siblings caught chicken pox, the virus reactivated in me as shingles. All of this happened before the introduction of a vaccine. I do think the chickenpox vaccine is responsible for me having to tell an ER doctor that the strange scar on my side is from chickenpox.

[@RonanErudon1305]

Had chickenpox as a kid, and then had shingles when I was about 16 years old due to a lot of stress. Was horrible, it hurt, it itched, and I would have almost lost vision in one of my eyes to it, but thankfully we were able to treat it early before that was at risk. My life as an artist would've been sadder had I lost part of my vision haha

[@Absaroka]

Great episode. Very engaging

[@EvilPeaMia]

I had chicken pox when I was about 6. Got shingles when I was 27, and also 8 months pregnant. Completely different experience, quite nasty.

[@blindbrad4719]

I caught it when I was 23, I worked with it for a week, felt like absolute crap but was determined to slog it out as I didn't realise how bad it would get, got sent home when the pregnant woman in the offices (I was in the factory) heard about me having it, then I was gratefully and immediately sent home. hope your kid is all good.

[@littlemissmel88]

I got shingles at 28, while 38 weeks pregnant. Definitely a horrible experience!

[@readycheddar]

I’m 41 and already had Shingles twice. First when I was 14 and then when I was 38. When I was 14 I had to just grin and bear it because they didn’t have antivirals for it yet. At least not as widespread as today. Lasted two weeks and was one of the worst experiences of my life. A few years ago when I got it my doc put me on valacyclovir and it didn’t get anywhere near as bad and went away after three days. Medicine has come a long way in 25 years.

[@SwimminWitDaFishies]

Wow! Very impressive lesson delivered in a refreshing and entertaining way -- great job, and thank you!

[@nosondre]

Another gift that keeps on giving.

[@catherinewheel4851]

stress seems to be a component in shingles as it is in recurrences of that herpes. i also think we're going to find that many other viruses hang around and cause problems that we currently don't recognize as viral in origin. there were some researchers at stanford who were looking into a post-viral cause of fibromyalgia.

[@ghostratsarah]

Well, our DNA is more virus than it is human, so there had to have been an insane number of viruses that acted the same and infected out ancestors. I'd be baffled if we aren't dealing with a wide array of similar ones today

[@declaringpond2276]

@@ghostratsarah What I dont understand is, if a virus wants to reproduce, why kill its host? Or at the minimal, endanger its host, seems counter intuitive.

[@toniatchison3678]

I've been 'lucky' enough to have both chicken pox and shingles. My daughter, while her grade school class was passing around chicken pox, managed to get shingles but never got chicken pox. Weird.

[@rustythegreatandpowerfulla2676]

You can't get shingles first. She likely had an earlier but unnoticed case of Chicken Pox.

[@rustythegreatandpowerfulla2676]

@@dissolvedpeafowl Occams Razor. She was in elementary school. She just had a mild case mom didn't notice. That is not a rare occurrence. .

[@toniatchison3678]

@@dissolvedpeafowl I'm sorry, I guess I didn't make myself clear. When she was in 2nd grade, everyone in her class caught chicken pox EXCEPT her. She got shingles instead of chicken pox, as well as vasculitis. As far as passing any kind of antibodies to her, I suppose that's possible, though there were a good many years between me having it and her birth. All I have to go by is what her doctor diagnosed.

[@dissolvedpeafowl]

@@toniatchison3678 Right. I may have overcomplicated that. Shingles can only happen when a person has already had chicken pox, even if it's super mild. 100%, full stop. She had chicken pox prior to the shingles, even if it was so mild that you didn't clock it as chicken pox.

[@toniatchison3678]

@@dissolvedpeafowl no problem. Lol, nothing about my family is normal, why should my daughter be? Lol She never actually had diagnosable chicken pox. The doctor said she must have been completely asymptomatic. And when her shingles presented, it did not show up on her torso, it was a patch on one butt cheek, lol.

[@TellyKNetic]

I had chicken pox when I was less than 2 years old, so I don't remember it. I got shingles at age 13. It took the doctors awhile to diagnose me because I was so young. It is incredibly painful. I also found out that the shingles vaccine is currently unavailable to people under 50, since there has been very little testing with that demographic. I'm in my 30's now, and worried that I might get shingles again.

[@johnreyes9926]

Super informative. I learned a lot, thanks. ❤

[@MissingRaptor]

My SO asked me what the connection between chicken pox and shingles was about 5hours ago. This video was posted about 5hours ago. Your timing is impeccable, SciShow. 👍

[@bjmmedeiros13]

Love your style of presentation and the references! 😻

[@teac117]

'one of us, one of us' :P

[@solapowsj25]

The images are clear for diagnosis, the data is update, and the explanation is up to the mark. Thank you🌹.

[@IAmSweetPea]

Yet again, y’all answer a random question I have on repeat! Love SciShow

[@ChristopherRyans]

Extremely educational appreciate the time and effort and scientific forethought that went into this video

[@wrenodonnell5944]

i had shingles at the grand old age of 8. when me and my dad went to get me checked out in the a&e they had to call down a pedriatician to confirm it was shingles because nobody could quite believe it

[@KarenNg0909]

Holy moly! Thanks for this informative video

[@Articulate99]

Always interesting, thank you.

[@seadog2969]

I had shingles a couple years ago --- sooooooooooo painful. Pro-tip: if you have shingles near your eyes or ear, go to the doctor asap. The virus resides in your nerves and can damage those nerves. This means that with your eyes, your vision could be damaged (including blindness), and ears, of course, could lose some hearing ability. My shingles were close to my right eye and we had to watch it.

[@BradiKal61]

I had it in my left eye and when my family doctor learned that the ER had not told me to seek out an ophthalmologist he was super angry and made an immediate appointment for me. Whatever system they used to measure high pressure showed that my infected eye was at about a 30 and my normal eye was about an 8. For weeks afterward I had weird halos while driving at night in my left eye, and it was scary and took a long time to clear up

[@hollya6408]

I had shingles earlier this year at 23. It honestly wasn’t that painful for me so I didn’t even realise I had it at first.

[@alhodge4051]

Succinct, informative, well done. good speaker

[@enderoftime2530]

I am a person who had shingles as an elementary student. I’m glad I made it through without much pain.

[@kgamer892]

I got shingles 10 Years ago it was horrible messed up my mobility was in the hospital for about a week and then had a therapist come to my house twice a week for a couple months. Then I got them again a couple years later wasn't bad though. Had the chickenpox when I was 5

[@BradiKal61]

If you get shingles on your face you go see an opthalmologist NOW NOW NOW. Shingles travels the nerves on ine side if your body and if it hits your eyes it's like microwave glaucoma. Your inflamed eye gets increased pressure snd that pressure can prevent blood drom being pumped in and your eye can DIE. I got shingles in my eye and for a week I had to go to an ophthalmologist every single day for them to measure the pressure and prescribe drops that would lower that pressure.

[@coder_117]

I was born in 92. I got the chickenpox vaccine but still ended up catching chickenpox. Later in my 20s I got a mild case of shingles. My doctor told me being overly stressed is probably what caused me to have it at a young age.

[@Ahrpigi]

Got chicken pox when I was 13, was practically bedridden. My younger brother was 8 and was up running around the whole time. It's crazy how much harder it hits when you're a little older.

[@mattfry6716]

I got chicken pox from my sister and I have a small scar above my eyebrow form it too.

[@Lillyofthevalley222]

She understand this so well and spills out so much information so fast I literally just got mentally teleported back in time to my high school days. I feel like I just walked out of science class confused and asked my smartest friend to explain what we just learned in class because I didn’t understand and this is what quickly spilled out of her mouth! 😂😮

[@johnminster3205]

Great video!

[@wetsaltypickle]

I was born in '83 and can remember the chicken pox party's when I was a kid. We would have the pox together. I now have had shingles once in my 30's...

[@Lyriath]

I had chickenpox 2 times: once in childhood and later in my twenties, recovering from a severe depression. 2nd time was so much worse! I had a high risk of developing meningitis - lucky me, my mother is a nurse and I could get proper treatment in time. Btw, nice vid as always ❤

[@theKaraProject]

I was 4 when I got shingles (I did have chicken pox first). My doctor said I was the youngest case of shingles he had ever seen. 😅

[@jmanj3917]

Well done episode by everyone. 👍👍

[@lord6617]

I like your voice. Thank you for the episode!

[@truckerdave8465]

My dad just passed away from shingles pneumonia. It’s no joke. Please be vaccinated if you can.

[@dianagibbs3550]

"When you get mono again, it's still mono!" Maybe. Some recent research is connecting it to multiple sclerosis.

[@waynemeadows9670]

Thank you for your amazing explanation. I had shingles at age 15 and it was horrible. I’ve had nerve pain ever since. It sucks.

[@tammyburke9453]

You present wonderfully. All meat, right upfront, nice cadence, no uptick or fry voice = Great Job- YOU 😊

[@icarusbinns3156]

So… I got the vaccine. And got sick! It was so mild that I had only 4 spots. All on my face. And I was constantly tired. Over winter break. The place my family stayed at was the ‘sick hotel’. Every family had at least one kid sick with something, chicken pox or measles. When we weren’t tired, we were out on the frozen pond of the hotel playing a child version of hockey. The teams were Spots and No-Spots. Games didn’t last long, since the Spots got tired easily

[@annettesurfer]

Back in the 70’s I had a bad case of shingles as a teen. It covered exactly half of my back, starting from my spine outward. But I’ve never had chicken pox, which seems to counter what’s generally thought to precede shingles. A few months back I received the Shingrix to bolster my aging immunity just in case, same with every vax available.

[@slcRN1971]

As a maternity hospital RN, all of us who work on the maternity unit (OB-GYN, L&D, Newborn Nursery) had blood drawn to assess our chicken pox immunities - - do NOT want to have an asymptomatic case that could prove fatal to newborns. My blood results indicted that I have a very high level of immunity (I had a very severe case of this as a child). I mention this because a few decades ago (before the vaccine was developed), I was at the hospital front elevator when a woman with her two young children got off that elevator - - who were covered with large chicken pox pustules (pus sacs) !! I told her that her children could not be on the maternity unit due to those pustules - - her response ‘Oh they don’t have a fever and they feel fine now’. I politely explained that they were still very contagious UNTIL those pustules dried up completely. She started arguing with me and she started walking towards the maternity unit. I told her if she didn’t stop right there, I would page security STAT to have her and her kids removed from the hospital. She did leave then.

[@scrane5500]

Would love it if SciShow would do a video on Bovine Leukaemia virus and breast cancer. Great work as always

[@AllegrettoATempo]

My parents opted not to get the chicken pox vaccine for me when it was approved and I was a small child because "it was too new" and "chicken pox isn't a big deal". I got shingles when I was 22 and it was absolutely horrid. Thanks mom and dad for making me suffer for no reason!

[@simsimmaa8343]

And you're still alive. I feel bad for your parwnrs..you think its OK to trust anything and everything that's released?

[@babecat2000]

​@@simsimmaa8343you will get people sick not trusting science 😊

[@richterman3962]

Be glad your grandma didn't follow medical advice when she was pregnant You wouldn't be here

[@glassystudio]

Victim Card

[@chriswhittington5790]

As a parent myself, I can assure you that there's more that goes into the decision to not get a vaccine that's new. I have yet to get the covid vaccine for the same reason, it's too new. There are no long term studies for the vaccine, therefore no data about long term side effects, nor is there enough data to say anything about the effectiveness of the vaccine, is the vaccine broad enough that it can cover enough variations in the virus to make it a universal vaccine. Look I'm no anti-vaxer but I don't think it's a good idea to be putting things in your body without enough research both short term and long term unless you like being a walking science experiment.

[@Renisanxious]

My mom had shingles recently and it's horrible! She's much better now, but her rash was infected and it's pretty rough

[@Denuhm]

I had the vaccine in 1992. After moving 14 times I got a different strain of Chickenpox as a 17 year old. It wasn’t itchy at all just looked gross. While I’ll never know the exact strains and what happened I am immune compromised and the fact that I got chicken pox after being vaccinated was the warning sign my doctors needed to keep me safe!!

[@kellyneal9323]

you are a very pleasant person to listen too.

[@ClellBiggs]

A few years ago I was under a lot of stress (39 years old) and I had an outbreak of the shingles on my back about the size of a silver dollar. Whenever it was touched it felt like electricity shooting down my spine. The funny thing is that for the first few days I had no idea why I wasn't feeling well. After about 3 days I rubbed that part of my back on something and felt excruciating pain. I can't imagine having it all over my body and I hope I never do. That area of my back still tingles when I rub it against something.

[@DustyTheDog]

I was born the year it was licensed, and I didn't get vaccinated before caught it naturally. What I can remember from it is being really itchy and taking several oatmeal baths and using calamine lotion. Also, with as much as people are messing around recklessly, maybe you should do some videos on the other Herpes viruses and their possible links to various cancers and reproductive harms. I've actually hear people say, "it's not that big of a deal. You just get a sore every now and again. it's really not even that common(occurrence of sores/outbreaks)" Like they should not be telling people they are infected. YOU SHOULD BE TELLING PEOPLE.

[@HOLDENPOPE]

apparently, almost everyone on Earth already has some type of Herpes or another

[@NotSoNormal1987]

I mean, I'm not really worried about cold sores.

[@DustyTheDog]

@@NotSoNormal1987 Both forms of the Herpes, HSV-1 and HSV-2, have been linked to various reproductive cancers. Those little cold sores could at any time break into even larger lesions that people more often associate with the disease. Simply because you haven't had it bad yet, YET, doesn't mean it won't come to you. Females with PCOS and herpes are nearly guaranteed to have a "herpes zoster" which is Shingles. The very topic of this video. We are taught to void things like smoking, which do not guarantee cancer but only increase the risk. I already am genetically high-risk for prostate cancer. Would not want to make it worse. Why do you think it is OK to give someone a disease without their knowing and increase their risk? This is like lighting a cigarettes 12 inches from your face. I mean, smokers can't even be within like 20 feet of a public entrance, so obviously we don't like people who do it. We even isolate them into an area with other smokers when they do it, but not all the time.

[@wombat.6652]

Recently got the first dose of the Shingles vaccine of two. It can make you go blind in one eye, and I already am blind in one. Very grateful for the details. Thank you.