NEW DELHI: There is no concrete evidence that COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in cases of shingles or herpes in the country, the Rajya Sabha was informed Tuesday.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prof Satya Pal Singh Baghel said the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), under the ministry through its Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), monitors and revises its strategies for any potential outbreak of infections.
“NCDC currently does not collect routine data on either chicken pox or herpes zoster or shingles. However, it does collect data on fever with rash classified as Measles or Chickenpox after confirmation and outbreaks of Chickenpox,” the minister said.
Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. It is the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a person has chickenpox, the virus stays in the body for the rest of your life. Years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles. Shingles are not life-threatening. However, it can be very painful.
Herpes is a common infection caused by herpes simplex viruses. It can cause painful blisters that come and go –mostly around the mouth and genitals.
The minister also said that in the clinical manifestations following types of herpes virus are seen in clinical practice: Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV 1) and type 2 (HSV-2), Human Herpes Virus 3(HSV-3) called Varicella – Zoster virus (VZV).
For HSV-1 and HSV-2 no licensed vaccines are available in India.
For HSV-3 - Prevent Chickenpox and Shingles or Herpes Zoster - two types of vaccines are available in India. It is a live-attenuated varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine and an adjuvanted VZV glycoprotein E (gE) subunit vaccine (recombinant zoster vaccine [RZV].
“Further, it is also stated that the said vaccine is not a part of the universal immunization program in India,” the minister added.