Shingles Vaccination

[Jim Barrett]

Went to the Doc for my annual physical on Friday...I turned 60 last August and he asked if I wanted a Shingles vaccination...recommended by the CDC for people over 60. My wife who is older than me by a few years had a mild case of shingles and it was not too good...my sister had it as well. Anyway I decided to get the vaccination and man...today my arm is swollen and hurts like heck! I know it is a live virus but geesh....the reaction I have is fairly typical....at least I am not gasping for air!

Jim

[Mike Henderson]

I had the shingles vaccine and didn't have any reaction - don't even remember my arm being sore. I just felt it was better than getting shingles.

Mike

[Gary Hodgin]

Doesn't sound good to me. I just turned 60 and plan to get the shot. My wife is a couple of years older than me also and, like your wife, had a "mild" case about a year ago. It took her about 2 months to get over it and it was extremely painful. Bad stuff.

I had the bad arm but I sure don't want the shingles.

[Jim Barrett]

I had the shingles vaccine and didn't have any reaction - don't even remember my arm being sore. I just felt it was better than getting shingles.

Mike

Mike,
Consider yourself lucky...50% of the people that get the vaccination suffer from similar reaction like I am experiencing...my wife, who had Shingles, got the vaccination after her experience and did not remember having any reaction as well...oh well...guess I am just unlucky!

Jim

[Todd Burch]

I probably won't be getting it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmPQtizSjvU

[John McClanahan]

I would research just how much the vaccine really helps. Some of those wonder drugs that advertise during the evening news are as much snake oil as medicine when you research them. Phrases like
"emerging science suggest" and disclaimers along the bottom of the screen that you can't read leave me skeptical.

John

[Mike Henderson]

I would research just how much the vaccine really helps. Some of those wonder drugs that advertise during the evening news are as much snake oil as medicine when you research them. Phrases like
"emerging science suggest" and disclaimers along the bottom of the screen that you can't read leave me skeptical.

John
There are several articles on Wikipedia about shingles and the vaccine. I read most of them before I got the shot. If I recall, it's not perfect but it's much better than getting shingles. [You'll find other sites with info about the vaccine if you Google for it.]

One interesting thing is that it was noticed that older adults who were exposed to children with chickenpox had a much lower incidence of shingles. The reason was that the chickenpox exposure served as a "booster" to the older adult's immune system (assuming the older adult had had chickenpox). However, now that children are being vaccinated against chickenpox - and therefore don't get it - the grandparents are not getting that booster to their immune system and are more susceptible to shingles.

Mike

[Jerome Stanek]

I read that the vaccine is 50% effective. You have a 50% chance of getting shingles without it and 50% with it.

[Joe Kieve]

I sure hope I'm in the "50% effective" because I had a light case of shingles last year and it sure was painful for about a week. Don't want to go through that again.

[Stephen Tashiro]

However, now that children are being vaccinated against chickenpox - and therefore don't get it - the grandparents are not getting that booster to their immune system and are more susceptible to shingles.




A tangential, but important question is whether adults who are not currently immune to polio are in danger of getting polio from children who get vaccinated with the live virus. Years ago, I read that this happened to some grandparents. Is this still a danger?

[Ken Platt]

We no longer vaccinate children in the US with the live virus, more or less for that reason.

Ken

[Myk Rian]

If you have had Chicken Pox, you might consider it. No Pox? No need.

[David Weaver]

I read that the vaccine is 50% effective. You have a 50% chance of getting shingles without it and 50% with it.

No, it halves your chance of getting shingles vs. no vaccine. If you had a 50% chance without the virus, you have a 25% chance with it.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-shingles.pdf

[Larry Frank]

I got the Shingles vaccination as I know someone who had Shingles and would do anything to avoid it.

[Dick Latshaw]

I got the Shingles vaccination as I know someone who had Shingles and would do anything to avoid it.

Interesting. My wife and I were discussing the Shingles vaccination this evening, and, in our 70+ years (each), we can only recall one person that we know who had Shingles. Is it now more common? If so, why? Or is it more drug company advertising?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I would suggest it may be more common just because there are more people reaching the age where it effects us. We are the baby boomers, we are enjoying longer life spans than previous generations so it makes sense that it will be more common.

My wife had a bout of shingles several years ago. Ask her whether its worth taking the vaccine.

[David Drickhamer]

A few years ago I got shingles in my eye. It took several months to get over it and still have problems due to nerve damage from it. I don't ever want to go thru that again so I got the shot and had no side effects.

[Jerome Stanek]

If the shot is with live virus and it basically gives you a mild case then if you have had the shingles why would you need to get it again.

[Chris Kennedy]

My dad has had shingles twice, so you can get it more than once. He recently got the vaccine because he has a compromised immune system from cancer treatment. His doctor said that it isn't 100%, but if it doesn't prevent an outbreak, it will make it less severe.

In related news, my wife who hasn't even reached 40, had an outbreak a couple of weeks back.

Chris

[Mike Henderson]

If the shot is with live virus and it basically gives you a mild case then if you have had the shingles why would you need to get it again.
I don't know if it is live virus or not. But shingles is chickenpox. If you've had chickenpox, you have the virus in your body. The problem is that your immunity to the virus decreases over time and the virus can reappear.

So if you get a shingles shot, it just gives a boost to your immune system. But that, too, will fade with time.

Mike

[Rick Potter]

My wife and I, both 70, both had chicken pox as kids, both got the shot last fall. No reaction. We went to get the flu shots, and they asked if we wanted this one too, and highly recommended it.

Rick Potter

[Chris Fite]

Shingles can be a miserable experience. Sometimes the effects persist for weeks. It is spread by contact in the same manner as its progenitor, chicken pox. My wife and I, in our 60s, had chicken pox as children. Common for the day.

When she was in her late 50s, she had a bout of shingles. She was miserable for the few weeks that it lasted. It was on the trunk, so it was primarily generalized nerve discomfort on the skin.

I had the shingles vaccine, after I turned 60. I figured a 50% better chance might be worth it. A couple of years later, I had a small patch of shingles on my stomach. The patch was about the size of a playing card, lasted about a week, but was not unpleasant.

I don't know how common shingles is among our age group. I think that taking a vaccine with middling rate of effectiveness is a judgment call. I don't know, if having the shingles vaccine helped me or not. I have seen shingles ranging from what I had to writhing misery for weeks.

I had no residual effect from the actual shot itself. Everyone is different.

[Brian Deakin]

Dear Jim,
I am a pharmacist in the United Kingdom I would suggest looking at the following web site

http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/search?q=shingles%20vacination&ps=50

The articles I would suggest reading first are the accredited literature marked with a eye symbol and to scan you curser (liitle arrow) down the filter on the left hand side of the page

Note, for general background this is a very good source Further the guidance is for the United kingdom and may differ from the USA so always discuss with your doctor first



regards Brian