Chicken Pox

Many cases of shingles may be prevented with an experimental vaccine that could be on the market as early as next spring, medical experts said yesterday. The disorder, typified in many cases by excruciating pain, itching and throbbing, is caused by a resurgence of the chicken pox virus, usually after age 60. Varicella zoster, the microbe that causes both shingles and chicken pox, retreats after a childhood bout with the itchy and blistering condition, only to resurface decades later as shingles, a nerve-damaging disorder that sometimes is so painful that people have considered suicide.

Barbara Walters will retire in May of next year, a source familiar with her plans told Reuters on Thursday . (Deadline Hollywood broke the story; Read it here .) The 83-year-old executive producer and co-host of "The View" has struggled with health issues in recent months. A slip and fall sent her to the hospital earlier this year. That was followed by a bout with chicken pox. "The View," one of the most successful daytime talk shows on television, is in the process of a radical overhaul with several of the original co-hosts gone or about to go. Walters was the first female co-anchor of a network morning show at NBC's "Today" in 1974.

Maryland's children would be required to get more vaccines before attending school under a proposal being considered by state health officials. But doctors and state health officials said most children are already getting the shots and that they are looking to regulate the process. Under the proposed guidelines, pupils would be required to get a chicken pox booster before starting kindergarten. The chicken pox vaccine is now required to be given to babies. Seventh-graders would be required to get the Tdap vaccine, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough.

Maryland's children would be required to get more vaccines before attending school under a proposal being considered by state health officials. But doctors and state health officials said most children are already getting the shots and that they are looking to regulate the process. Under the proposed guidelines, pupils would be required to get a chicken pox booster before starting kindergarten. The chicken pox vaccine is now required to be given to babies. Seventh-graders would be required to get the Tdap vaccine, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough.

Shingles is a painful, and somewhat mysterious, skin disease that affects people who have had chicken pox. It may occur spontaneously or may be induced by stress, fever, radiation therapy, tissue damage or immunosupression. Dr. Oanh Lauring, chief of dermatology at Mercy Medical Center, says doctors do not know the specific mechanism that triggers reactivation. What is shingles? A reactivation of chicken pox later in life. Another name is herpes zoster, which confuses people because they think it is related to the herpes virus that is sexually transmitted or causes mouth sores, but it isn't.

Wanted: Someone with a case of chicken pox bad enough to pierce 12-year-old Danny Mroz's healthy armor.He and a 10-year-old sister, Emilee, have ducked the common childhood disease for years despite what their mom, Sandy, estimates were six known exposures and thousands of possible carriers in playgroups, classrooms and soccer fields."

Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf said yesterday that he hopes to clear up the status of coach Lindy Infante before Christmas."I said I would wait until the season was over, that I would come in in an evaluation process and do that and the evaluation process is continuing," Wolf told John Madden of CBS-TV before yesterday's Packers-Minnesota Vikings game at the Metrodome.When will that evaluation end?"It should be after today's game," Wolf said. "Anything I do, I want to do before Christmas."

I was completely healthy until several months ago when, without any warning, I developed shingles on the lower left side of my back. The skin rash disappeared quickly, but extremely annoying pain continues every day. I would like to know what caused me to have shingles and whether anything can be done to ease the pain.Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chicken pox (varicella). After an attack of chicken pox, VZV remains in an inactive form in nerve cells along the spinal cord and lower part of the brain.

Gulf war memorial dedicated to 272 deadA stone honoring the 272 Americans who died in the Persian Gulf War last year was dedicated yesterday at the Arlington National Cemetery.Vice Admiral Henry Mauz, who commanded the Navy's 7th Fleet in the Persian Gulf, said the war to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait was waged because "we could not stand by and watch an innocent country be swallowed up by an outlaw nation.The marble marker bearing the inscription "To the brave hearts who gave their lives, may we all know the peace for which they died" will be placed at the base of a 35-foot London plane tree planted in their memory.

...C Cardinals: Willie McGee hit .350 (14-for-40) as a pinch-hitter last year and is 10-for-28 (.357) in that role this season.Giants: Going into last night, reliever Julian Tavarez had not allowed a run in his past 18 outings.Mariners: Seattle has hit four or more home runs in a game seven times this season. The Mariners' 17 wins this month is a franchise record for June.Marlins: Reliever Felix Heredia has not been scored upon since May 23 and has 14 consecutive scoreless innings in June.

With the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, there should be a renewed interest in "A Night to Remember," Baltimorean Walter Lord's recreation of the ship's sinking. It is a classic in the dramatiuc retelling of an historical event, and you could draw a straight line to more recent books such as Sebastian Junger's "A Perfect Storm" or Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air. " From the first pages, Lord evokes the gentility of the steamship era, and pulls readers into the unfolding disaster.

Shingles is a painful, and somewhat mysterious, skin disease that affects people who have had chicken pox. It may occur spontaneously or may be induced by stress, fever, radiation therapy, tissue damage or immunosupression. Dr. Oanh Lauring, chief of dermatology at Mercy Medical Center, says doctors do not know the specific mechanism that triggers reactivation. What is shingles? A reactivation of chicken pox later in life. Another name is herpes zoster, which confuses people because they think it is related to the herpes virus that is sexually transmitted or causes mouth sores, but it isn't.

Nearly all sixth- through ninth-graders have received required vaccinations against chicken pox and hepatitis B, part of a push by Anne Arundel County public schools and the county Health Department to see that students comply with Maryland's immunization law. By the end of the school day Friday, 62 middle-schoolers and 217 ninth-graders lacked the necessary immunizations - fewer than 1 percent of students - school officials said, a substantial drop...

Pianist George Spicka and his singing partner were booked to play the lounge at Baltimore's Tremont Park Hotel on Wednesday night, with a set list of smooth jazz numbers and pop hits that included "Just the Way You Are." Spicka never made the gig. Instead the composer and recording artist who has performed in the area for years found himself under arrest and in Anne Arundel County - accused of e-mailing a bomb threat to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Yesterday morning, just hours after being released on his own recognizance and walking to a nearby diner in his black slippers to call a taxi, Spicka said he's innocent.

Many cases of shingles may be prevented with an experimental vaccine that could be on the market as early as next spring, medical experts said yesterday. The disorder, typified in many cases by excruciating pain, itching and throbbing, is caused by a resurgence of the chicken pox virus, usually after age 60. Varicella zoster, the microbe that causes both shingles and chicken pox, retreats after a childhood bout with the itchy and blistering condition, only to resurface decades later as shingles, a nerve-damaging disorder that sometimes is so painful that people have considered suicide.

About 200 inmates at the Baltimore City Detention Center are on quarantine after two cases of chicken pox were diagnosed at the jail last week."It's virtually a lockdown. There's no movement at all," said Lamont W. Flanagan, commissioner for Pretrial Detention Services.The two cases of chicken pox were diagnosed Oct. 13 in the jail's annex, a minimum-security area that houses 400 inmates on four tiers. The chicken pox cases were discovered on two tiers.Those two tiers will remain quarantined until Nov. 2.Dr.

Nearly all sixth- through ninth-graders have received required vaccinations against chicken pox and hepatitis B, part of a push by Anne Arundel County public schools and the county Health Department to see that students comply with Maryland's immunization law. By the end of the school day Friday, 62 middle-schoolers and 217 ninth-graders lacked the necessary immunizations - fewer than 1 percent of students - school officials said, a substantial drop...

With the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, there should be a renewed interest in "A Night to Remember," Baltimorean Walter Lord's recreation of the ship's sinking. It is a classic in the dramatiuc retelling of an historical event, and you could draw a straight line to more recent books such as Sebastian Junger's "A Perfect Storm" or Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air. " From the first pages, Lord evokes the gentility of the steamship era, and pulls readers into the unfolding disaster.

Last month, an Ann Landers column included a letter suggesting that vaccinating children against chicken pox would protect them against shingles as adults. Specialists at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, where research studies are under way for patients with shingles now or in the past (call 410-955-4053 for details), suggest otherwise.This clarification is from Hopkins shingles expert Dr. Anne Louis Oaklander of the Department of Neurosurgery:Childhood immunization is not expected to protect adults against the sequel to chicken pox called shingles or zoster.

...C Cardinals: Willie McGee hit .350 (14-for-40) as a pinch-hitter last year and is 10-for-28 (.357) in that role this season.Giants: Going into last night, reliever Julian Tavarez had not allowed a run in his past 18 outings.Mariners: Seattle has hit four or more home runs in a game seven times this season. The Mariners' 17 wins this month is a franchise record for June.Marlins: Reliever Felix Heredia has not been scored upon since May 23 and has 14 consecutive scoreless innings in June.