History of the Treatment of Shingles

Shingles has a long recorded history that dates back to ancient times, and this is shown by the various kinds of treatments that people have come up with over the centuries to treat this viral disease. Let us find out about how the treatment for shingles has developed in a dramatic way over time.

Since ancient times until the 1700s, shingles, along with smallpox and leprosy, was considered to be a highly contagious disease. Fortunately, in the later years of the eighteenth century, an English physician was able to distinguish between these diseases, which ended the treatment of shingles patients as lepers. However, little was done in the way of treating this disease, and people who were sick were just instructed to apply cool compresses to the blisters several times a day. By the middle of the 20th century, though, the public became educated enough to understand that shingles, especially when it occurred near an eye or ear, could lead to serious complications. This created the need for a more serious form of treatment for the virus and, thus, antihistamines and topical creams were developed to help relieve the itching, while antiviral drugs were created to hasten the course of the virus. The disease's prevention has also been well-looked into by scientists, with a vaccine having been developed and approved in the year 2006, that is recommended for even people over the age of sixty and is effective for at least six years. With the improvement of medical knowledge and technology over time, it is possible that in just a few years, we might finally be able to discover a cure for this disease.