SHINGLES VACCINE - SHINGLES VACCINATION - ZOSTER VACCINE - VACCINE FOR SHINGLES - ADULT IMMUNIZATION

What is shingles?
Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a painful skin rash caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox (varicella-zoster virus). When people are first infected with the varicella-zoster virus, usually as children, they get chickenpox. Years or decades later, the virus can reactivate and cause shingles. Anyone who had chickenpox is at risk of developing shingles. Shingles is more common in older people and people with weakened immune systems, but it can also occur in healthy children and younger adults.

What are the symptoms of shingles?
Symptoms include a painful, blistering rash that tends to occur on one side of the body, usually on the torso or face. There may be pain, numbness or tingling in the area two to four days before the rash appears. Pain or numbness usually resolves within weeks, but it can sometimes last for much longer. Damage can occur to the eyes or other organs if they are involved. One of the most common and serious complications of shingles is post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). PHN can be debilitating, and the pain it causes is hard to treat. Current therapies are only somewhat effective and associated with frequent and problematic side effects. PHN diminishes quality of life to a degree comparable to congestive heart failure, heart attack, type II diabetes and or depression.

Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. But a person with shingles can pass the virus to someone who has never been exposed to it before. In that case, he or she would get chickenpox and would be at risk of getting shingles sometime in the future.

Which adults should get vaccinated?
The shingles vaccine is recommended for:

• Anyone 60 years of age and older, to keep the varicella-zoster virus from re-activating and causing shingles
• People who have had shingles before, because shingles can recur
• People in the recommended age groups, even if they cannot recall if they have ever had chickenpox

The shingles vaccine should not be given to adults with primary or acquired immunodeficiency.

The shingles vaccine prevents PHN in 67 percent of those vaccinated and prevents shingles itself in 51 percent of people vaccinated.

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Shingles (herpes zoster) Information