A nurse is providing education to a client with shingles. Which statement by the nurse is correct?
A.
“Shingles can be transmitted through direct contact with vesicles.”
B.
“You can only get shingles if you’ve never had chickenpox.”
C.
“The shingles vaccine has a 100% efficacy rate.”
D.
“The herpes zoster vaccine is given to children under 10 years old.”
The correct answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is A. “Shingles can be transmitted through direct contact with vesicles.”
Explanation:
Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which is the same virus that causes chickenpox. Once someone has had chickenpox, the virus remains dormant in the nervous system and can reactivate later in life as shingles.
Option A is accurate because shingles can indeed be transmitted through direct contact with the fluid from the vesicles (blisters) of a person with active shingles. The virus can cause chickenpox in someone who has never had chickenpox or been vaccinated against it. This transmission occurs because the varicella-zoster virus is present in the fluid of the vesicles.
Option B is incorrect. You do not need to have had chickenpox to get shingles; rather, you need to have had chickenpox in the past. Shingles occurs when the dormant virus reactivates, not when a person who has never had chickenpox is exposed.
Option C is also incorrect. The shingles vaccine, specifically the recombinant zoster vaccine (Shingrix), has high efficacy (over 90%) but does not guarantee 100% protection. The vaccine significantly reduces the risk of developing shingles and its complications, but it is not foolproof.
Option D is incorrect as well. The herpes zoster vaccine is not given to children under 10 years old. The Shingrix vaccine is recommended for adults aged 50 and older. For children, the varicella vaccine is used to prevent chickenpox, not shingles.
Thus, the correct statement is that shingles can be transmitted through direct contact with the vesicles of an infected individual.