Up to 70 percent develop chronic pain in a region supplied by a particular nerve. The pain means that the complication, known as postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN, can last for months or years. It can be so debilitating that many elderly patients resort to suicide. Some medications that treat shingles, like Famicylovir, are far better than others, like Lidocaine, Brooks reports. They all may be drugs of the past, however, if current research is successful.
Researchers think that people's immune systems begin to fade when they get older.
So researchers are providing a vaccine to immunize older individuals to boost their immunity to the shingles virus so that they won't get the disease during the last 10-30 years of their lives. The vaccine is not yet available to the public. Copyright 2001 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.