Part A

Shingles is a disease caused by infection virus known as the varicella-zoster virus, the disease is highly infectious and affects the nerves and the skin of the patient. The same virus that causes shingles also causes chickenpox an illness that is highly infectious. Shingles can affect people of all ages but are most common among the people who are aged because they have a weak immune system (Kang, Crimmins, & Ailshire, 2018). When people take drugs to cure certain diseases, their immune system weakens hence they are attacked by the varicella-zoster virus the immune system of the person is unable to fight the disease. Also, people who have been treated before using the radiation method or chemotherapy have higher risks of contracting the disease. The disease affects many people around the world hence there is a need for research to be made to understand the disease more and find out how to manage the situation.

Part B

The primary and only cause of the disease is the varicella-zoster virus. The disease is treated, and the body is not able to fight the virus that causes the infection on its own without the help of drugs (Kang, Crimmins, & Ailshire, 2018). The disease is painful for the patient since the skin is the one affected, and the person has to wear clothes. The disease reduces the immune system of the person affected hence they are at risk of contracting other diseases. Any gender can contract the disease even though the elderly are at a higher risk. The eyes are also affected by the disease including the brain and the spinal cord.

Shingles disease is preventable through vaccination where the person immunized remains safe from the disease for some time until their immune system weakens (Macartney, & Gershon, 2018). People are encouraged to stay clean to avoid the virus since it gets into the body through the skin. Also one need to prevent people who have never contracted chicken pox before since they are at a higher risk of contracting the disease.

The disease symptoms include itching skin on the part that will finally have a rush, fever, headache, nausea and body aches (Lindsay et al., 2018). It’s advisable for the patient to seek medical attention the moment they notice the symptoms of the disease. The doctors will be able to make the diagnosis of the disease from the history of the patient and the symptoms. The more the disease spread on the body, the more complicated it will become in treating the disease.

Part C

The virus affects the skin cells by making it hard for them to multiply to replace the dead skin cells. The cellular, tissue, and organs weaken once the virus has contracted the patient(Lindsay et al., 2018).This gives a room for the virus to spread throughout the body(Lindsay et al., 2018). The body responds by trying to fight the virus, and it might win or lose the fight depending on the capacity of the immune system. The faster the tissues are affected, the quicker the symptoms will begin to show. Symptoms begin to indicate when the cells are no longer able to keep up with the virus.

Part D

Shingles are associated with symptoms such as rash, but in some cases, it can be difficult to determine whether it is the disease. The signs in most cases appear only on one part of the body in a small section. One of the symptoms of the disease is burning, pain and numbness(Kang, Crimmins, & Ailshire, 2018). The rashes are also sensitive, and the person experiences a lot of pain when they are touched. There is one red rash that develops after the pain starts. Blisters that are filled with fluid form and they usually break and crust over. Before this stage, however, a person with shingles experiences chills and fever. Stomach upset, headache and sensitivity to light. It is difficult to conclude that a person is suffering from shingles by considering the symptoms in the first stage because they are common with other diseases.

Postherpetic neuralgia is the most common complication of shingles, even after the rash has cleared some people to feel severe pain in the areas they had shingles. In most cases, the pain goes away after a few weeks, but some people may live with the pain for ay years (Kang, Crimmins, & Ailshire, 2018). The illness is so debilitating to the extent that it affects the daily life of those affected. Young people are less likely to have PHN as compared to those above 40 years. Studies have shown that 10 to 13% of people who contract shingles experience PHN. Shingles not only affect the skin but also lead to complications such as loss of vision. The disease also leads to hearing impairment, pneumonia, inflammation of the brain as well as death in rare instances.

Part E

The symptoms of the distinctive enough to conclude that a person has shingles especially after the appearance of the rash. Before the rash appears, it is difficult to diagnose the disease because the other symptoms are common in other diseases (Rafferty ET AL., 2018). It is also challenging to diagnose the disease in young children and individuals with compromised immunity. In such cases, Polymerase chain reaction is used to confirm the suspicion. To test the presence of VZV antibodies the doctor uses either cerebrospinal fluid, blood or saliva

Reference

Kang, H., Crimmins, E., & Ailshire, J. (2018). ASSOCIATION OF MULTIMORBIDITY WITH INCIDENT SHINGLES AMONG OLDER AMERICANS. Innovation in Aging, 2(Suppl 1), 905.

Lindsay, D. S., Cunningham-Rundles, C., Fuleihan, R. L., Ballow, M., & Leiding, J. W. (2018). The incidence of reactivated Herpes Zoster (shingles) in patients with Primary Immune Deficiency. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 141(2), AB21.

Macartney, K., & Gershon, A. A. (2018). Shingles vaccine after auto-HSCT decreases risk. The Lancet, 391(10135), 2082-2084.

Rafferty, E., McDonald, W., Qian, W., Osgood, N. D., & Doroshenko, A. (2018). Evaluation of the effect of chickenpox vaccination on shingles epidemiology using agent-based modeling. PeerJ.

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