GSK shares data from global shingles survey
Betsy Goodfellow | December 1, 2023 | News story | Medical Communications | GSK, Infections and infestations, data, shingles
GSK has announced data from its new global survey about shingles. The data suggests that there are some significant gaps in the understanding of shingles among adults over the age of 50 – a population at risk of the disease.
The survey included 3,500 adults over 50 from 12 countries, assessing their understanding of the disease, what may trigger it and its impact on people’s lives.
The top three misconceptions found in this survey were:
- 55% of respondents thought that you could catch shingles from someone with the disease: although it cannot be transmitted from person to person like other diseases, rather being triggered by a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) which is already in the person and can remain dormant in the nervous system
- Nearly half of respondents thought that you could catch shingles from someone with chicken pox: VZV causes shingles and chickenpox, it can remain dormant in the body after chicken pox infection, later reactivating and causing shingles
- 39% of respondents thought that you cannot develop shingles if you have already had it: most people who develop shingles do only have it once, however it is possible to develop the disease multiple times.
Piyali Mukherjee, vice president and head of Global Medical Affairs, Vaccines at GSK, commented: “Shingles can have a profound impact on the lives of people and their families. With over half of the respondents believing that shingles can be ‘caught’ from someone else suffering from the disease, among other frequent misunderstandings revealed by the survey, these results emphasise the continuing need for enhanced awareness for this condition. We encourage all adults over 50 to approach their healthcare professionals for guidance on how to recognise, understand and reduce their risk of developing this debilitating disease.”
Betsy Goodfellow
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