Shingles have become a rising problem for people who had chickenpox as a child. Shingles is a virus that causes painful rash like blisters by attacking the nerve roots of an infected person. In most cases the blisters and the virus are treatable. For about 50% of people over the age of 60 who go untreated, the pain doesn’t go away.

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) occurs if your nerve fibers are damaged during an outbreak of shingles. After the nerve fibers are damaged, they send mixed signals to your brain, resulting in months or years of pain. If the pain from shingles lasts for three months, it becomes a case of PHN.

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The yellow fever virus is a disease that’s transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. While it’s not a common virus found in the U.S., those who travel out-of-country should be aware of the disease and if they will be required to be vaccinated against it.

The yellow fever virus is a disease found in tropical and subtropical regions, specifically in Africa and South America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Infected mosquitoes spread the virus to humans, which can cause a number of symptoms and illness to occur. Most people won’t show symptoms, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but if they do appear, the most common include muscle pain, headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, or loss of appetite.

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The incredible vistas of Peru are a must-see for a traveler, but a lack of oxygen can keep you from enjoying your trip. Macchu Pichu, a popular destination for tourists, is roughly 8,000 feet above sea level. Hypoxia (a lower-than-normal oxygen concentration in arterial blood) can occur at around 7,874 feet above sea level. But, for many traveling to Macchu Pichu, it’s the colonial-capital city of Cusco that will be the real challenge. Clocking in at over 11,000 feet above sea level, visiting Cusco can be breathtaking – and not necessarily in the way you’d like Keep yourself from losing precious moments to altitude sickness with some easy mitigation techniques.

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If you have plans to visit India, Pakistan, the Caribbean, or certain areas of Central and South America, Africa, and the Middle East, you’ve probably received a recommendation to have a typhoid fever vaccine. Typhoid fever is a bacterial disease with a history dating back to early Greek civilizations. A vaccine was developed in the late 19th century, helping to curb this potentially life-threatening infliction.

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common infection of the reproductive tract for both men and women. Anyone who is sexually active is at risk for contracting HPV. There were about 43 million HPV infections in 2018, many among people in their late teens and early 20’s.

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