Shingles Shot Rounds Out a Comprehensive Health-Care Routine

For most women, managing their health means getting a yearly checkup, keeping up with recommended screenings, and getting an annual flu shot and COVID booster. Some also get a pneumonia vaccine, and perhaps a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, which provides protection against a common virus that causes mild, cold-like symptoms. But there’s another vaccine that deserves a spot on every conscientious woman’s health to-do list, and that is the shingles vaccine. Shingles affects one in three people and is especially severe for women over 50, so getting vaccinated could mean avoiding weeks to months of pain and discomfort, and possible long-term nerve damage.

Understanding Shingles

As women age, their immune system naturally weakens, increasing the likelihood of shingles. For those navigating a stressful period of life, dealing with chronic health conditions, or taking medications that suppress the immune system, the risk is even higher. Shingles often starts as a tingling or aching sensation before a red, bumpy rash appears. This rash turns into blisters and can be incredibly painful, making even the lightest touch unbearable. While some people experience only mild discomfort, others suffer from intense, stabbing pain, even months after the rash clears. In severe cases, it can cause postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is lingering nerve pain that is difficult to manage.

Shingles can be treated with antiviral medications (valacyclovir and acyclovir) that can minimize the pain and the rash, but the drugs are effective only if administered within 72 hours of initial symptom onset. Other treatments are used to strictly treat the symptoms: Ibuprofen helps reduce pain, and cold compresses and oatmeal baths can help soothe the rash and blisters. Some prescription pain medicines can also help reduce discomfort. The pain and rash subside within three to five weeks, but for the 10 percent to 15 percent of people who get PHN, nerve pain can last for three to six months or more.

Shingles Vaccine

“Shingles is due to the chickenpox virus; the chickenpox virus hides out in our bodies and can reactivate and appear years later as a very painful rash. Now we have Shingrix, a vaccine that can reduce the risk of getting shingles by 90 percent,” says Susana R. Morales, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine. Shingrix provides protection that lasts for at least four years. The vaccine is administered in two separate doses given two to six months apart. “The first Shingrix shot “primes” the immune system, and the next dose teaches the body to build defenses against the virus,” explains Dr. Morales. If you have already had shingles, it’s still worthwhile to get the Shingrix vaccine because about 20 percent of people experience a second episode. If you get shingles, wait until the rash has completely healed before getting the first dose of the Shingrix vaccine. If you were previously vaccinated with the now discontinued Zostavax shingles vaccine, you should get the Shingrix vaccine.

Vaccine Planning Tips

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides age-based guidelines for the administration of the Shingrix, RSV, and pneumonia vaccines:

• Shingrix vaccine: Recommended by the CDC for adults ages 50 and older.

• RSV vaccine: Available for adults ages 60 and above; recommended for everyone ages 75 or older. Between ages 60 and 74 consider getting the RSV vaccine if you have a chronic medical condition such as lung or heart disease.

• Pneumococcal (pneumonia) vaccines: The CDC recommends that all adults ages 50 and older receive a pneumonia vaccine.

Overwhelmed by Vaccines?

It’s not uncommon for people to feel a bit overwhelmed by the variety of vaccines that are now available and recommended. “When people are uncertain or feel unsure about all the different vaccines currently offered, I remind them about how much progress we’ve made in finding vaccines for so many challenging and dangerous diseases, and how these vaccines have saved millions of lives and prevented so much suffering,” says Dr. Morales.

Adding the shingles vaccine to your health schedule is a small step that can have big benefits, protecting you from pain, discomfort, and potentially serious complications.

The post Shingles Shot Rounds Out a Comprehensive Health-Care Routine appeared first on University Health News.

Read Original Article: Shingles Shot Rounds Out a Comprehensive Health-Care Routine »