What specific type of patients is more likely to develop Herpes Zoster?

Herpes zoster can develop in patients of any age. However, researchers agree that increasing age is one of the primary risk factors for the development of this disease (Cohen, 2013). Also, women are more subject to this virus than men, whites more than blacks, and people with herpes zoster in family history (Cohen, 2013). Moreover, the risk of complication increases for elderly patients with herpes zoster (Kawai, Gebremeskel, & Acosta, 2014).

What are the strategies for preventing possible complications from Herpes Zoster?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016), “the only way to reduce the risk of developing shingles and the long-term pain from post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) is to get vaccinated.” Thus, they advise vaccination to people aged sixty and more because they are more subject to herpes zoster. Clinical researches approve the use of the vaccine to prevent herpes zoster for people aged fifty and more (Cohen, 2013). However, it should be mentioned that patients with “hematologic malignancies whose disease is not in remission or have received cytotoxic chemotherapy within 3 months, in persons with T cellular immunodeficiency, and in those receiving high dose immunosuppressive therapy” cannot be vaccinated (Cohen, 2013, p. 260).

Is it possible that other diseases/conditions could limit the patient’s abilities to overcome Herpes Zoster quickly?

Herpes zoster can be treated with properly selected medications. However, it causes some complications which do not let patients overcome the disease as quickly as possible (Janniger, 2017). One such disease developed as a complication of herpes zoster is post-herpetic neuralgia. It is a frequent complication that develops among half of the patients with herpes zoster older than sixty. Also, herpes zoster can stimulate the occurrence of “conjunctivitis, keratitis, corneal ulceration, iridocyclitis, glaucoma, and decreased visual acuity or blindness” (Janniger, 2017, para. 3). These conditions demand the prolongation of antiviral therapy.