# Can shingles be fatal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2003, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798 "2003-03-12T11:09:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/1 "2003-03-12T11:09:38Z")
Wondering about this, since David Letterman’s affliction brought it to mind. Is it true that if you have shingles, and they cover more than a certain percentage of your skin, you’ll die? Can you die from having shingles at all? ---
**Author:** ![Jammers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammers)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/2 "2003-03-12T11:12:22Z")
IANAD, but I was always told that if they meet in the middle, then you die. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/3 "2003-03-12T11:15:47Z")
[HOW SERIOUS ARE CHICKENPOX AND SHINGLES?](http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/ucdhs/health/a-z/82ShinglesandChickenpox/doc82severity.html) Doesn’t say anything about skin coverage. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/4 "2003-03-12T12:18:38Z")
yep, i’m thinking the Ramsay Hunt syndrome, blindness, Guillain-Barre etc are enough to worry you… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/5 "2003-03-12T13:44:39Z")
I’ve **had** shingles. WOW! They hurt!! They kept me awake for _days_, moaning in pain. And it was mis-diagnosed by almost everybody, except the ER staff. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/6 "2003-03-12T13:49:43Z")
I dunno about fatal, but they sure hurt like hell when they blow off the roof! \ What? Ohhhh…_those_ kind of shingles. Nevermind then… ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/7 "2003-03-12T14:10:30Z")
I heard babies can die if born during a shingles episode. I think it’s a real high-risk delivery in these instances. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/8 "2003-03-12T14:56:57Z")
People whose immune systems are weak (immunocompromised) can indeed die from shingles. They can get disseminated disease. The mortality rate used to exceed 50% (AFAIK) but has been lowered considerably by the use of drugs such as acyclovir. People with AIDS, cancer, leukemia, or receiving immunosuppressant drugs for things like transplants can all be affected in this way. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/9 "2003-03-12T23:15:30Z")
Yeah, I heard the “meet around the middle” version too, but it sounded like such an old wives’ tale (no offense, **Jammers** ) that I reworded it as “percentage of skin”. So IS it true about meeting around the middle? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/10 "2003-03-13T02:03:43Z")
The poor prognosis for shingles that “meets in the middle” probably comes from the fact that run-of-the-mill shingles usually occurs in what’s called a _dermatomal_ distribution. A dermatome is a band of skin, all parts of which have their sensation supplied by one nerve root emanating from the spinal cord. At each level, one band comes from the left and one from the right. **These left and right dermatomes do not cross the midline** , and cover, from top to bottom, perhaps an inch or so over the chest and abdomen, but more on the legs and arms. Here is a picture of dermatomes (but without indicating where the left and right dermatomes end) [Dermatomes](http://www.driesen.com/dermatomes_of_the_human_body.htm) The herpes virus that causes shingles hibernates in a nerve root, say on the left, often for decades. When a person’s resistance is lowered, the virus travels out from the left nerve root, say, down along the nerve, and then goes into the skin ‘supplied’ by that nerve, i.e. into the left dermatome. If this happens in more than one nerve root and nerve simultaneously, that is, **if it happens in more than one dermatome at a time, it suggests that there may be a serious problem with the person’s immune system**. So, “meeting in the middle” indicates that both the left and right dermatomes are affected simultaneously. Hence, the person’s immune system is suspect and the person is at risk. (By the way, a more common occurence would be for several dermatomes on one side of the body to be affected simultaneously, or for a couple on each side). ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-shingles-be-fatal/160798/11 "2003-03-13T02:51:52Z")
I see. Thank you.