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American Morning
House Call: David Letterman Has Virus, Shingles
Aired March 03, 2003 - 07:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: David Letterman took many people by surprise when he called in sick last week. That's because he hasn't had a whole lot of sick days during his career.
Elizabeth Cohen, who is filling in for Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us to tell us more about this virus that has him sidelined.
Good morning.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Paula, that's right. It did take many people by surprise, because comedian David Letterman has not had a sick day in 20 years, except for the time that he missed when he had his heart bypass surgery. So, he is, in general, a very healthy man.
This is an all-too-common infection. It's called shingles. It affects 2 out of every 10 people over the course of their lifetime.
And let's talk a little bit about what shingles is. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. It causes itching and pain. It can be treated, and we'll talk about -- a little bit more about that later.
It affects people who already had chicken pox. It is most common in people over the age of 50. Letterman is 53.
Now let's talk a bit about the treatment. There are some antiviral drugs that can help ease some of the symptoms of shingles, but it doesn't necessarily get rid of it. In fact, some people suffer for a while. They really feel very uncomfortable, very itchy, but the antivirals can help.
It affects -- again, we said it affects people over the age of 50, but really people of any age can get shingles. What happens is that that the chicken pox virus that you had as a kid, it got better, but the virus is still there in your body. And then for some reason, it sort of re-ignites itself, and that's how you get shingles -- Paula.
ZAHN: Do we know why it's re-ignited?
COHEN: You know what? We don't exactly know why. We do know that it often happens with people who are more elderly and frail. It happens with people who have immune problems to begin with. But it also does happen to people like David Letterman who are in, you know, fine health anyhow. It's not exactly known why it tends to re-ignite at certain times in certain people.
ZAHN: And I guess the one thing, Elizebeth, we dont want to underplay here is the extreme pain patients feel when they have this. I know my husband had it for months, and it was awful.
COHEN: It can be really awful. It can be very painful. These are bumps that tingle. Some people describe it as great pain, pain and almost sort of numbness is well mixed in there, and it just sounds like a very, very unpleasant disease.
Other people don't feel it quite as much. There is a variety, but it can be a very unpleasant disease to have, and it can take months to go away -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, David, our thoughts are with you as you try to heal from this. We're sorry you have to take sick days, but I'm sure he will keep us entertained with all of his guest hosts in the days to come.
Thanks, Elizabeth.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired March 3, 2003 - 07:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: David Letterman took many people by surprise when he called in sick last week. That's because he hasn't had a whole lot of sick days during his career.
Elizabeth Cohen, who is filling in for Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us to tell us more about this virus that has him sidelined.
Good morning.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Paula, that's right. It did take many people by surprise, because comedian David Letterman has not had a sick day in 20 years, except for the time that he missed when he had his heart bypass surgery. So, he is, in general, a very healthy man.
This is an all-too-common infection. It's called shingles. It affects 2 out of every 10 people over the course of their lifetime.
And let's talk a little bit about what shingles is. Shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. It causes itching and pain. It can be treated, and we'll talk about -- a little bit more about that later.
It affects people who already had chicken pox. It is most common in people over the age of 50. Letterman is 53.
Now let's talk a bit about the treatment. There are some antiviral drugs that can help ease some of the symptoms of shingles, but it doesn't necessarily get rid of it. In fact, some people suffer for a while. They really feel very uncomfortable, very itchy, but the antivirals can help.
It affects -- again, we said it affects people over the age of 50, but really people of any age can get shingles. What happens is that that the chicken pox virus that you had as a kid, it got better, but the virus is still there in your body. And then for some reason, it sort of re-ignites itself, and that's how you get shingles -- Paula.
ZAHN: Do we know why it's re-ignited?
COHEN: You know what? We don't exactly know why. We do know that it often happens with people who are more elderly and frail. It happens with people who have immune problems to begin with. But it also does happen to people like David Letterman who are in, you know, fine health anyhow. It's not exactly known why it tends to re-ignite at certain times in certain people.
ZAHN: And I guess the one thing, Elizebeth, we dont want to underplay here is the extreme pain patients feel when they have this. I know my husband had it for months, and it was awful.
COHEN: It can be really awful. It can be very painful. These are bumps that tingle. Some people describe it as great pain, pain and almost sort of numbness is well mixed in there, and it just sounds like a very, very unpleasant disease.
Other people don't feel it quite as much. There is a variety, but it can be a very unpleasant disease to have, and it can take months to go away -- Paula.
ZAHN: So, David, our thoughts are with you as you try to heal from this. We're sorry you have to take sick days, but I'm sure he will keep us entertained with all of his guest hosts in the days to come.
Thanks, Elizabeth.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
