Many people believe that after having chickenpox in childhood, the virus disappears forever. However, the reality is far more surprising: the virus can remain inside the body for decades without causing symptoms.
At certain moments, even when a person feels healthy, the virus can reactivate and cause a condition known as shingles.
What few people know is that this condition can appear unexpectedly, even many years after having chickenpox. Shingles is directly linked to the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus responsible for chickenpox.
When a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus does not completely disappear. Instead, it remains dormant in the nervous system, where it can stay inactive for decades without causing any problems.
Under certain circumstances, the virus may reactivate and appear again, this time in the form of shingles. Specialists point out that this reactivation often occurs when the immune system becomes weakened.
Factors that may contribute include natural aging, prolonged periods of stress, illnesses that affect the immune system, medical treatments that weaken immunity, and intense physical or emotional exhaustion.
One of the most unusual aspects of shingles is that the first symptoms are not always obvious.
Before the characteristic rash appears, some people may experience burning or pain in a specific area of the body, tingling sensations, skin sensitivity, and localized discomfort.
When the condition fully develops, a rash with clustered blisters usually appears on only one side of the body. This happens because the virus reactivates along a specific nerve. As a result, the lesions follow a localized pattern instead of spreading across the entire body.
ADVERTISEMENT
