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Currently being treated for breast cancer, Caroline Receveur, 36-year-old influencer, ended up in the emergency room on Wednesday evening for… shingles. The infection can indeed be problematic in his case.
New passage through the hospital for Caroline Receveur. Wednesday August 16, the influencer recently diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, had to spend the evening there because of a new infection, shingles. Information she shared with her fans in a new Instagram story. Since the announcement of her cancer, the young woman has indeed taken the habit of giving news of her health via this channel.
What is this infection that Caroline Receveur suffers from?
In general, shingles is not a serious pathology. It is an infection characterized by the appearance of vesicles on the skin caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox virus in people who have already contracted this disease. The virus thus remains “dormant” in the nerve ganglia, and can wake up when the immune defenses are reduced, especially in the elderly or sick. A unilateral rash appears, consisting of small red pimples, papules, which then evolve into vesicles.
But complications are possible such as damage to nerve fibers causing pain, especially in the weakest people. Local treatment and painkillers are frequently offered.
Shingles, a more common infection in cancer
However, the influencer did well to consult quickly, the correlation between cancer and shingles being quite strong. Indeed, if the disease induces a drop in immunity which can favor the reactivation of the shingles virus, certain studies have shown that the treatments used against cancer, in particular anti-suppressant drugs, also increase the risk of shingles. “When we stimulate immunity, we can also awaken latent diseases. It can be shingles, but also other diseases such as tuberculosis, for example”, explained in our pages Dr Ouda Derradji infectious disease specialist from the Institut Curie in Paris. Corticosteroids, when combined with immunotherapy, can also play a role in the action of lymphocytes.
More urgent treatment for cancer
In a person with cancer, shingles can be more difficult to treat. Her immune system being weakened, she is at risk of more frequent complications.”This is why intravenous antiviral treatment is recommended in these patients for ten or even fifteen days. It is important to act within 72 hours of the appearance of the first symptoms”, according to the infectious disease specialist. The person must also be isolated.
A vaccine exists to prevent recurrences in fragile people. But then again, cancer is a game-changer. “Live attenuated vaccines can cause reactivation of the virus but they also increase the risk of worsening the underlying disease,” told us the infectiologist.
Its prescription is therefore not recommended for a patient undergoing chemotherapy as Caroline Receveur is currently. The young woman, however, reacted with caution by going to the hospital and already seems to be doing better according to her posts and those of her spouse.
More information in our article “Shingles: what are the links with cancer?”