Why You Should Get a Shingles Vaccine

The Real Truth About Vaccines

Have you gotten your shingles vaccines yet?

You might have shingles (also called herpes zoster) if you have a blistering, painful rash that is limited to a few narrow bands (dermatomes) on one side of your body, especially if you haven’t had your shingles vaccine yet. Photo CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

Remember, the latest recommendations are that everyone who is at least fifty years old should get vaccinated and protected against shingles with Shingrix, a newer recombinant vaccine.

Younger adults can also get vaccinated if they have problems with their immune system that put them at increased risk for a severe case of shingles.

Why You Should Get a Shingles Vaccine

If you are eligible for a shingles vaccine, but have skipped or delayed getting vaccinated, you should know that:

• shingles is a reactivation of chickenpox, as the virus lies dormant in your nerves

• you can get shingles after having the chickenpox vaccine, but fortunately, the risk is thought to be lower than if you had a natural chickenpox infection. And yes, you can get a shingles vaccine if you have had a chickenpox vaccine

• you can get shingles at any age, with the risk increasing as you get older

• you should get Shingrix, even if you have already had shingles, as it will hopefully reduce your risk of future outbreaks

• you should get Shingrix, even if you have already had the older Zostavax vaccine

• the shingles vaccine doesn’t cause shingles

• there is evidence that the shingles vaccine is protective against dementia!

And especially know that shingles is a brutal, life-threatening disease, causing many people intense pain for weeks and others debilitating long term pain (postherpetic neuralgia) for months or years.

What About the Side Effects of the Shingles Vaccine?

While those are all good reasons to get your shingles vaccine, you still might be hesitant because you are concerned about side effects that you might have heard about.

Side effects like pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, or muscle aches, fatigue, headache, shivering, fever, and GI symptoms.

Fortunately, these side effects are typically not bad enough to get in the way of your doing your normal daily activities after you have had your vaccine.

And they are side effects that typically go away in a few days - much sooner than the weeks or months that you could be left with the symptoms of shingles.

More on Chickenpox and Shingles

• What to Do if You Have Shingles?

• What to Do If Your Child Is Exposed to Shingles

• Does the Chicken Pox Vaccine Protect You from Shingles?

• Ask The Experts About Shingles Vaccines

• FDA - Shingrix information

• New Indication for Shingrix to Prevent Shingles in Immunocompromised Adults

• Shingles vaccines prevent painful infections and sharply cut the risk of dementia

• Understanding Shingles: How the Shingles Vaccine Can Help Prevent Lingering Pain and Provide Relief

• The Shingles Vaccine is the Longevity Hack that Already Exists

• What is herpes zoster?