Most age groups in Quebec are seeing a decline in shingles cases. So why aren't millennials?

The rash looks very scary. People are talking about shingles. Nine out of ten pain. Easy. It happens to those who've had chicken pox. The virus stays dormant in the body, and when reactivated, it becomes shingles, an infection that shows up as a very painful rash that can affect your nerves. And complications can lead to lasting pain, even vision loss. It was actually just absolutely excruciating. The good news is health officials say cases of shingles in Quebec are going down among most age groups. There is one group that isn't faring as well. Millennials. A little bit of shock. 30-year-old Sean Glythero says he discovered he had shingles this summer by chance. He went to the hospital for an unrelated condition and while he was there he says doctors noticed a red rash on his side. It was kind of an old person. So I had to do some research and figure out really what it meant. In Quebec, about 27,000 cases of shingles are reported each year, leading to roughly 600 hospitalizations and 10 deaths. It affects those aged 50 and over the most. But according to preliminary data from Quebec's Public Health Institute, since 2019, cases among that cohort have gone down. It's also dropped for children. But although it remains rare, It isn't declining among those aged 25 to 49. It's like the only group that did not decrease. So depending on the years, it's stable or slightly increasing. Doctors point to a number of reasons for this, including that some millennials didn't get the varicella vaccine. It helps prevent chickenpox and it was only introduced in Canada in 1998. And some people are getting treatment for chronic conditions, which can weaken the immune system, making them more prone to shingles and other infections. People vaccinated against chickenpox carry a lower risk of later developing shingles than those who caught chickenpox from someone else. We do know that a severe illness being unwell puts you at risk for that reactivation. A weakened immune system and even chronic stress can also trigger the virus. Stress is how it developed for Glythero. It's important to get yourself physically and mentally checked out. He wants people to be aware of the signs. An itchy rash on one side of the body so they can get treatment and avoid complications.