Shingles could make on a regular basis duties — from getting dressed to entering into mattress — a painful proposition. The perpetrator behind this agonizing rash, which is particularly widespread in older individuals, is identical virus liable for one other widespread however debilitating situation: hen pox.
“Most of us by no means eliminate the hen pox virus,” William Schaffner, MD, president of the Nationwide Basis for Infectious Ailments, tells WebMD. “It lies dormant like a bear in a cave throughout winter. When an individual will get shingles, the virus has reawakened.”
Happily, a vaccine is offered that significantly reduces the chance of shingles. Schaffner, who can be a professor in Vanderbilt College Faculty of Drugs’s infectious ailments division and chair of the varsity’s division of preventive medication, spoke with WebMD about getting protected.
The shingles vaccine is beneficial for everybody age 50 or older who just isn’t profoundly immunocompromised, which implies their immune system is functioning they usually haven’t not too long ago had remedies like chemotherapy or excessive doses of steroids.
“t is a two-shot vaccine. Protection is offered by means of Medicare, however it may be robust to get approval. It’s important to work the system just a little.
“No. It may possibly nonetheless be very efficient, though it is suggested that you simply look forward to as much as a yr after the episode to get the vaccine.”
“Shingles just isn’t life-threatening per se, however it may be fairly debilitating. If it includes your face or eyes, it could possibly threaten your eyesight. Even after the rash abates, you might be left with ache in that part of the physique that may be set off by even trivial stimuli, such because the contact of a shirt towards the pores and skin. Generally it could possibly forestall individuals from leaving their home. The older we get, the better the chance. In case you survive to age 80, you’ve got a 25% to 50% probability of getting had shingles.”
“That is an awfully secure vaccine. A couple of share factors of individuals get hen pox blisters across the website, however they’re innocent they usually go away.”
“Solely you probably have a compromised immune system.”
