Epidemiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the
incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other risk
factors relating to health (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Government organizations such as the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization are
excellent resources to research this information of whatever disease you may be
interested in. Below I have highlighted
the major epidemiological data for Shingles.
If you are interested, I have also listed some additional readings on
the topic.
Who is at risk?
Some individuals like yourself Dad, are more likely to
encounter this illness in your lifetime than others. Most importantly, only individuals that have
been naturally exposed to the Varicella Zoster Virus (chickenpox), or those
that have received the varicella vaccine, can end up with Shingles (CDC, 2014). For individuals over 40 years old today,
about 99.5% have experienced chickenpox (CDC, 2014)! The Shingles infection
often flares when your body is working hard, such as experiencing a suppressed
immune system. Individuals with cancer,
HIV, those that have undergone transplants, or those taking immunosuppressant
medications such as steroids are at high risk (CDC, 2014).
What are the rates?
Every year in the US, about 4 people out of every 1,000
experience Shingles (CDC, 2014). Those
rates increase as age increases. For
example, out of people over 60 years old, it is 10 people out of every
1,000. Adding this up, there are about 1
million cases annually in the US. Out of
those 1 million cases, about 1-4% seek hospitalized care. Unfortunately, 96 of those people will
succumb to complications of the disease (CDC, 2014).
Path of destruction…
The general trend of cases has been gradually increasing
though out the years. The overall cause
is unknown, but this could be due to the growing aging population of the baby
boomers such as yourself. It is also
found that more women than men, and more Caucasians than African Americans
(CDC, 2014).
As you can see, many others are experiencing the same thing
as you. Here is a support group for
shingles if you want to talk about your story, and learn more from others. http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Shingles/forum
Additional Readings
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. May, 2014.
Clinical Overview: Shingles (Herpes Zoster).
Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/hcp/clinical-overview.html
Merriam-Webster. 2015. Epidemiology. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epidemiology
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