What is Shingles, 80% of Indian adults above 50 underestimate risk

Hyderabad: A recent survey undertaken before the ongoing Shingles Awareness Week 2024 (February 26 to March 3) exposed a widespread lack of understanding of shingles and the lifetime risk among citizens.

GSK launched the new survey findings as part of Shingles Awareness Week, a campaign led by GSK in collaboration with the International Federation on Ageing (IFA). The aim is to raise awareness and address the lack of knowledge about the risks and impact of shingles.

What is shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia?

Shingles is a disease caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. Most adults already have the shingles-causing virus present in their bodies by the age of 50, which may reactivate with advancing age as the strength of their immune response to infection wanes, and this increases their risk of developing shingles.

The disease typically presents as a rash, with painful blisters across the chest, abdomen, or face. The pain is often described as aching, burning, stabbing or shock-like.

Following the rash, a person can also experience post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), a long-lasting nerve pain that can last weeks or months and can occasionally persist for several years. PHN is the most common complication of shingles, occurring in 5 to 30 per cent of all shingles cases as per the findings from various studies.

Lack of health literacy

As per the global survey, 83.5 per cent of adults surveyed in India underestimate shingles risk. Surprisingly, more than half of both English and Hindi-speaking respondents in India (55% and 76%) respectively believe that shingles is essentially harmless. Globally, shingles will affect up to one in three people in their lifetime.

According to the data released from the globally commissioned survey funded by GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical Ltd, there is a lacuna in understanding shingles risk among individuals above 50 years, a group that is the most susceptible to the disease.

Universal misconceptions about shingles

The Shingles Misconceptions Survey was conducted online with the participation of 3,500 adults aged 50 and over from 12 countries including India and in nine languages. It was conducted between August 16 and 18, 2023 by specialists in global market research such as Pollfish, Inc and by IPSOS, on behalf of GSK. Data was collated from 18 questions covering shingles awareness and misconceptions.

The points under assessment include respondents’ understanding of shingles, and its triggers and impact on people’s lives. There were 250 respondents from each country, except for the USA and India, both of which had 500 respondents. From India, there were 250 Hindi-speaking respondents and the rest spoke English.

Key findings

The findings show that globally, a significantly high proportion of those surveyed do not understand their risk of developing shingles, with 86 per cent underestimating that risk.

A quarter (26%) believed that one in 100 is at risk of shingles in their lifetime, almost a fifth (17%) think it is one in 1,000, and almost half of the respondents (49%) believed they are unlikely to develop shingles.

In India, 81 per cent of the English-speaking and 86 per cent of the Hindi-speaking respondents surveyed underestimate the risk of shingles. Amongst the English-speaking respondents, 22 per cent believed that 1 in 1,000 adults are at risk of developing shingles. Amongst the Hindi-speaking respondents, 18 per cent believed that 1 in 1,000 adults is at risk of developing shingles.

Unawareness about symptoms, long-term effects

The survey results also showed a lack of awareness about the pain shingles can cause.

Globally, one in 10 adults surveyed didn’t know the most common symptoms of shingles, and over a quarter (28%) believed shingles is ‘essentially harmless.’ In India, 55 per cent of the English-speaking respondents and 76 per cent of the Hindi-speaking respondents believed this.

Also, according to the survey findings, only 14 per cent globally believed that symptoms of shingles can last longer than six weeks. In India, only 8 per cent of English-speaking respondents and 4 per cent of Hindi-speaking ones thought that shingles symptoms last for more than six weeks.

Dr Rashmi Hegde, executive vice-president, Medical Affairs, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, India, said, “The survey findings underscore the need to raise awareness about shingles risk in adults over the ages 50. Shingles can significantly disrupt the daily lives of ageing adults and cause them a great deal of discomfort. In this Shingles Awareness Week, we encourage everyone to talk to their doctor about this agonising condition and how to prevent it.”

Shingles Awareness Week

Shingles Awareness Week is an annual global awareness week dedicated to spreading awareness about the risks and severity of shingles. In collaboration with the International Federation on Ageing (IFA), Shingles Awareness Week was set up to encourage informed conversations between adults, particularly if aged 50 and over, and their healthcare professionals about shingles.