SHARES
After her painful experience with shingles, Shari lost no time in telling her friends about prevention with shingles vaccination.
Early one morning, 39 year old Shari, already stressed undergoing a bitter divorce, woke up to a strange rash. In detail, the rash is a red patch of painful, highly sensitive, angry blistery rash from the left eyebrow down to her left temple.
Shari had been feeling strange in the days before, having an unbearable migraine-like headache and some nausea. In fact she had to lie in bed enduring the throbbing pressure on her upper part of her face.
In great pain, she consulted a doctor who took notes and after a look, quickly diagnosed shingles. Because shingles struck near her eye, the doctor referred Shari to an ophthalmologist. The reason is, if the rash gets into the eye, it can do real damage to her vision.
The ophthalmologist subsequently prescribed an anti-viral medicine and confirmed that the eye was in the clear. After a week, Shari felt much better and relieved that the rash subsided and pain gone, without further complications.
Shari was fortunate. In the first place, doctors treated Shari early. Consequently, she escaped possible lasting nerve damage and lasting pain, a post-herpetic neuralgia as well as potential complication of blindness in the eye.
What is Shingles?
In effect, shingles is a very painful rash that shows up in distinctive patterns following the path of the affected nerve, usually involving the middle part of the body. Specifically, the cause is chickenpox virus which lies dormant in the nerves for years after you’ve had chicken pox – the herpes zoster varicella virus. Interestingly, a “snake” eruption is the local colloquial term for shingles.
Not everyone who had chickenpox will develop shingles although shingles is more common in older adults and in people whare stressed or have a weakened immune system.
A person with shingles can pass the varicella-zoster virus to anyone with no immunity or vaccination against chickenpox. Once infected, the person will develop chickenpox, not shingles. In particular, chicken pox is dangerous to pregnant women.
Interesting Statistics about Shingles:
Complications from shingles include:
- Vision loss – when shingles appear around the eyes, it can cause painful eye infections that may result in vision loss.
- Neurological problems – depending on the nerves affected, shingles can cause inflammation of the brain, facial paralysis, hearing or balance problem.
- Skin infections – bacterial skin infections may develop especially in cases with no proper medical treatment.
About Shingles Vaccine
Two shingles vaccines may help prevent shingles:
- Chickenpox (varicella) vaccine ( Zostavax)
- Shingles (varicella-zoster) vaccine (Shingrix)
Who should get shingles vaccine?
- People aged 50 and above, whether or not they recall having chickenpox.
- Even if you’ve had shingles, you can still receive shingles vaccine to help prevent future recurrence of the disease. (Before commencing vaccination, make sure the shingles rash is in the clear.)
Who should not receive shingles vaccine?
- People who had life threatening allergic reaction to gelatin, antibiotic neomycin, or any other component of shingles vaccine.
- Women who might be pregnant. (women should not become pregnant at least 4 weeks after vaccination.)
- Person who had weakened immune system due to HIV, steroid treatment, cancer treatment such as radiation or chemotherapy, leukaemia or lymphoma.
How long will the shingles vaccine last?
Zostavax, a live vaccine offers protection against shingles for about five years. It’s given as a single injection, preferably in the upper arm and recommended for people above 60 years.
Shingrix is a non-living vaccine, containing a virus component. Comparatively, studies suggest Shingrix offers longer protection against shingles beyond five years. It is given in two doses, with two to six months between doses. Additionally Shingrix is approved for people 50 years and older, including those who had received Zostavax previously
The most common side effects of either shingles vaccine are redness, pain, tenderness, swelling and itching at the injection site, and headaches.
Shingles vaccination does not guarantee you won’t get shingles, but reduce the duration, the severity of the disease and risk of post herpetic neuralgia.
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Reference
- Shingle vaccination. [Internet][cited 2019 March 20] Available from:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/shingles-vaccination/
- Shingle zostavax vaccination. [Internet][cited 2019 March 20] Available from:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/zostavax/index.html
- New shingle vaccine. [Internet][cited 2019 March 20] Available from:
- Shingle vaccine. [Internet][cited 2019 March 20] Available from:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/expert-answers/shingles-vaccine/faq-20057859
by Leelah
'' The first step towards a change is awareness !'' The saying which inspired the medical graduate to reach the public through GetDoc. View all articles by Leelah.
