Question: My 83-year-old wife had bulbar polio when she was 17. She is now wheelchair-bound and is suffering severe pain from shingles. My question is: Since polio and shingles are both nerve diseases is there any special precaution, medicine or treatment she should have?
Answer: Although polio and shingles are both a result of virus infections, they are not related viruses. People with post-polio syndrome are not more vulnerable to shingles and need take no special precautions. Please read a recent Post-Polio Health article about shingles vaccination among polio survivors. www.post-polio.org/edu/pphnews/
pph29-4f.html.
Post-Polio Health (Vol. 30, No. 3, Winter 2014)