{"id":72478,"date":"2026-02-19T08:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T15:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=72478"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:12:16","slug":"dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Older
Older people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds are at the highest risk of developing severe cases of shingles. Women are at greater risk than men, while white people get shingles more often than those who are Black. Spare yourself the pain of shingles and get vaccinated. Photo: Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the varicella-zoster virus first strikes, it causes chickenpox. But the virus doesn\u2019t move on after you get better. Instead, it hangs around, waiting for a chance to re-emerge as shingles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell patients that if we\u2019ve had chicken pox any time during our lifetime, that virus stays in our system. It migrates into our nerve cells, hiding deep in our spinal cord nerve cells,\u201d said Dr. Kevin Borgerding<\/a>, an internal medicine physician at UCHealth Primary Care in Craig<\/a>. \u201cIt can break out any time later in life as shingles. That\u2019s why we now vaccinate young children against chickenpox, so they don\u2019t get the virus to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Risk factors for shingles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While shingles can strike at any age, it\u2019s most common in older adults<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAge is the most important factor in whether we get shingles,\u201d Borgerding said. \u201cThere\u2019s a dramatic increase in the incidence of shingles after age 50 because our immune system is aging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patients who are immunocompromised are also at higher risk of developing shingles, including transplant patients, anyone with HIV, people who are on chemotherapy or long-term steroids, and people with certain autoimmune conditions.<\/p>\n

Women are at a higher risk of developing shingles than men, while white people are at higher risk than those who are Black.<\/p>\n

Another surprising risk factor is physical trauma. For instance, patients older than 65 who had a shingles outbreak on their scalp were 25 times more likely to have experienced a head trauma the week before the outbreak than those who didn\u2019t get shingles.<\/p>\n

Is shingles contagious?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A person with shingles can spread the contagious varicella-zoster virus<\/a>, and therefore, someone who hasn’t had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine may get chickenpox (and then shingles later in life) from someone with shingles. A person with shingles is contagious until the last blister has died and scabbed over.<\/p>\n

Symptoms and stages of shingles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Shingles show up as a painful rash in one spot on one side of the body. Red, raised lesions appear first, then evolve into fluid-filled blisters that eventually break open and scab over.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rash only breaks out on one half of the body because the nerves that supply skin sensation only go to one side,\u201d Borgerding said. \u201cIf we see people with a rash that crosses the midline, we know it\u2019s not shingles.\u201d<\/p>\n

A deep burning, throbbing or stabbing pain may be felt at the site of the outbreak before the rash appears, which can make it tricky to diagnose.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to the development of the rash, pain is often misinterpreted as another disease,\u201d Borgerding said. For instance, intense pain on the chest may first seem like a heart issue, when it\u2019s actually a budding shingles outbreak.<\/p>\n

Older patients and patients who are immunocompromised are more likely to experience more dramatic pain and a more intense rash.<\/p>\n

In some cases, the pain is mild. A person may even mistake shingles for something else. \u201cI\u2019ve seen so many people who come in thinking they have a spider bite, and it ends up being shingles,\u201d Borgerding said.<\/p>\n

Shingles present with systemic symptoms, such as fever, headaches or general malaise, only about 20% of the time.<\/p>\n

Treatment and prevention for shingles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you suspect you may have shingles, it\u2019s important to see a provider immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sooner, the better, because the sooner we can start them on anti-viral therapy, the sooner we can help eradicate the virus,\u201d Borgerding said.<\/p>\n

The nerve where the shingles virus is reproducing can get highly inflamed, which can sometimes result in debilitating pain. Speedy treatment can help lessen those symptoms.<\/p>\n

While shingles typically don\u2019t reoccur, the associated nerve pain can resurface multiple times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nerve can be chronically irritated after you have shingles,\u201d Borgerding said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons shingles can be very debilitating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good news is that there is an effective way to prevent the disease<\/a>: the current shingles vaccine, which is given once as a two-shot series.

Along with preventing shingles, new studies also show that shingles vaccines significantly cut the risk of dementia<\/a>.<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s highly effective at preventing a shingles outbreak and preventing the chronic nerve pain related to shingles,\u201d Borgerding said.<\/p>\n

The vaccine is recommended for adults ages 50 and older, whether they\u2019ve had shingles or chickenpox before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a pretty high incidence of developing shingles during your lifetime, and it can be extremely painful – plenty of patients have chronic nerve pain,\u201d Borgerding said. \u201cGetting the shingles vaccine can help prevent that.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story first appeared in the Steamboat Pilot<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the varicella-zoster virus first strikes, it causes chickenpox. But the virus doesn\u2019t move on after you get better. Instead, it hangs around, waiting for a chance to re-emerge as shingles. \u201cI tell patients that if we\u2019ve had chicken pox any time during our lifetime, that virus stays in our system. It migrates into our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2163,"featured_media":72485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[162,259,351,9038],"class_list":["post-72478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-infectious-diseases","tag-internal-medicine","tag-primary-care","tag-vaccines"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAre shingles contagious? What you need to know. - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Had chickenpox before? Then you are at risk for shingles. Learn how it spreads, the symptoms and about the vaccine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Had chickenpox before? Then you are at risk for shingles. Learn how it spreads, the symptoms and about the vaccine.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-19T15:25:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-19T18:12:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/11\/02162333\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270\"},\"headline\":\"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-19T15:25:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-19T18:12:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":834,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/02162333\\\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Infectious diseases\",\"Internal medicine\",\"Primary care\",\"vaccines\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Healthy living\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/\",\"name\":\"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know. - UCHealth Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/02162333\\\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-19T15:25:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-19T18:12:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Had chickenpox before? Then you are at risk for shingles. Learn how it spreads, the symptoms and about the vaccine.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/02162333\\\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/02162333\\\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.webp\",\"width\":800,\"height\":474,\"caption\":\"Women are at a higher risk of developing shingles than men, while Caucasian Americans are at a higher risk than African Americans. Photo: Getty Images. Photo: Getty Images.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/\",\"name\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"description\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UCHealth\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24135149\\\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24135149\\\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"UCHealth\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/uchealthorg\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/uchealth\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/uchealth\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/school\\\/14839\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/uchealthorg\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270\",\"name\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\"},\"description\":\"Susan Cunningham lives in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys science nearly as much as writing: she\u2019s traveled to the bottom of the ocean via submarine to observe life at hydrothermal vents, camped out on an island of birds to study tern behavior, and now spends time in an office writing and analyzing data. She blogs about writing and science at susancunninghambooks.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/author\\\/scunningham\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know. - UCHealth Today","description":"Had chickenpox before? Then you are at risk for shingles. Learn how it spreads, the symptoms and about the vaccine.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know.","og_description":"Had chickenpox before? Then you are at risk for shingles. Learn how it spreads, the symptoms and about the vaccine.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/","og_site_name":"UCHealth Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-19T15:25:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-19T18:12:16+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/11\/02162333\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uchealth","twitter_site":"@uchealth","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"author":{"name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270"},"headline":"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know.","datePublished":"2026-02-19T15:25:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-19T18:12:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/"},"wordCount":834,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/11\/02162333\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.webp","keywords":["Infectious diseases","Internal medicine","Primary care","vaccines"],"articleSection":["Healthy living"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/","name":"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know. - UCHealth Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/11\/02162333\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.webp","datePublished":"2026-02-19T15:25:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-19T18:12:16+00:00","description":"Had chickenpox before? Then you are at risk for shingles. Learn how it spreads, the symptoms and about the vaccine.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/11\/02162333\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/11\/02162333\/getty-woman-fall-leaves-web.webp","width":800,"height":474,"caption":"Women are at a higher risk of developing shingles than men, while Caucasian Americans are at a higher risk than African Americans. Photo: Getty Images. Photo: Getty Images."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/dealing-with-shingles-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are shingles contagious? What you need to know."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","name":"UCHealth Today","description":"UCHealth Today","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization","name":"UCHealth","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"UCHealth"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270","name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth"},"description":"Susan Cunningham lives in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys science nearly as much as writing: she\u2019s traveled to the bottom of the ocean via submarine to observe life at hydrothermal vents, camped out on an island of birds to study tern behavior, and now spends time in an office writing and analyzing data. She blogs about writing and science at susancunninghambooks.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/scunningham\/"}]}},"coauthors":[{"id":2163,"name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/scunningham\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72478"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88779,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72478\/revisions\/88779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}