Shingles Treatment (Herpes Zoster)

No . You can’t catch shingles from an infected person through sneezing, coughing, or direct contact. If someone should get the varicella-zoster virus from you, they will develop chickenpox, not shingles.

Yes, you can get shingles more than once but it’s very rare. Most people will experience shingles only once in their lifetime.

You should stay home with shingles for about 10 to 14 days until the last blister has turned into a scab.

Adults 50 years and up should get two doses, two to six months apart. Adults 19 years and up with weakened immune systems due to disease or therapy should get two doses. If necessary, they can get the second dose one to two months after the first.

If you had shingles in the past, Shingrix can help prevent future occurrences of the disease. There’s no specific length of time that you need to wait after having shingles before you can receive Shingrix, but generally, you should make sure the shingles rash has gone away before getting vaccinated.

Chickenpox and shingles are related because they are caused by the same virus (varicella-zoster virus). After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays dormant (inactive) in the body. It can reactivate years later and cause shingles.

You shouldn’t get Shingrix if you:

• Have a history of severe allergic reactions to any ingredients of the vaccine
• Have shingles
• Are pregnant
• Are moderately or severely ill, with or without fever

At Nao Medical, we accept most major insurance plans, but in order to know if your plan covers the test, we would need to run your insurance and this can only be done at the beginning of your visit. If you would like to know ahead of time, please call the number on the back of your insurance card so a representative may let you know which coronavirus test is covered by your insurance plan.