Doctors flag low immunity as herpes attacks youth

KOLKATA: A rise in the number of young Kolkatans who have fallen prey to herpes this year has prompted experts to redflag a dip in immunity levels among the city’s youth.
Herpes is known to affect the elderly more frequently and the virus that causes it usually triggers chicken pox — and not herpes — in the first exposure (the same virus causes both chicken pox and herpes infections).But the incidence of herpes in Kolkata this year has had two stand-out aspects, both of which go against these norms.
One, doctors have noticed herpes striking a larger number of youngsters ( below 35) this year; two, a significant number of those affected have had herpes on their very first exposure to the virus (instead of chicken pox, which is the norm). These two phenomena, taken together, suggest an alarming dip in immunity levels among the city’s young, say experts.
The varicella zoster virus generally causes herpes in elderly people with lower immunity and among those suffering from diabetes, cardiac diseases, kidney ailments, leukaemia or other diseases that reduce immunity. “These ailments reduce immunity powers, making
people more vulnerable to herpes when the zoster virus enters the system. It remains dormant in many cases after triggering chicken pox and the virus turns active and manifests as herpes when immunity dips,” R N Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences consultant Arindam Biswas said.
But there are several cases this year that go against both standard herpes infection norms. A case in point is that of a 22-year-old hotel employee travelling to Tokyo from Kolkata and diagnosed with herpes at AMRI Hospital recently. “He was a healthy individual with normal immunity. But he had the virus attack, which should have normally caused chicken pox and not herpes,” Debashish Saha, consultant at the hospital, said.
“Once an individual gets chicken pox, s/he develops immunity to the disease; this prevents a second attack. So a second exposure to the virus often leads to herpes, which is triggered by the same virus. But I have received several herpes patients this year who have never had chicken pox,” he added.