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Sat 2 Sep, 2006 09:53 am
I imagine that all of you know, or know of, someone who has or had shingles. It is a miserable condition that lingers for a long time. In older people, the condition may be cured, but the related pain often remains.
There is a very new vaccination to prevent shingles, which I just received. I was informed that, due to its newness, it is doubtful insurance will cover the shot, and that I will be personally liable for about $200. To me, protection from shingles is well worth that cost.
Here is some additional information on Zostavax.
Shingles vaccine
I say "amen" to that. Having gone through the shingles by both myself and my husband, I would say that 200 bucks is a small price to pay not to get the disease.
Besides being a painful disease, shingles can cause some nasty and sometimes serious complications. Post-herpetic neuralgia can last for a long time. If a person gets shingles on his face, near the eye, it can cause corneal scarring. It is very important that if you do contract shingles on your face, that you see an ophthalmologist, pronto!
Thanks for the additional informtion. I didn't realize that the shot was limited to those over 60.
Frankly, I would advise those under 60 to make an effort to get the shot.
From the link...
Quote:Postherpetic neuralgia is more common in people older than 60. It occurs in less than 10% of people younger than 60 after a bout of shingles but in more than 40% of people older than 60.
There are a couple reasons why a drug is limited in scope. One is availability - if there is limited availability then it is best saved for those who need it most. Another is sufficient data to support it's use across age groups. I would have to go back and review the original clinical trial data, but if the number of study participants was heavily weighted to an older age group then product approval might be restricted to that group. In this case, I'm guessing the cost and efficacy for older individuals are the driving factors.
Re: SHINGLES VACCINATION
Advocate wrote:I imagine that all of you know, or know of, someone who has or had shingles. It is a miserable condition that lingers for a long time.
We've also found shingles to be fairly common among those patients with AIDS.
Re: SHINGLES VACCINATION
Advocate wrote:I imagine that all of you know, or know of, someone who has or had shingles. It is a miserable condition that lingers for a long time. In older people, the condition may be cured, but the related pain often remains.
There is a very new vaccination to prevent shingles, which I just received. I was informed that, due to its newness, it is doubtful insurance will cover the shot, and that I will be personally liable for about $200. To me, protection from shingles is well worth that cost.
How long has this medication been on the market?
Ah, found the reason for the restriction.
Quote:The company originally sought approval to sell the vaccine to adults 50 and older. But the FDA declined after expert advisors said in December 2005 that Zostavax hadn't been studied in patients younger than 60. The agency also rejected a bid to approve the vaccine for preventing postherpetic neuralgia.
Miller, I think it r'cd approval in April of this year.
JPB wrote:Miller, I think it r'cd approval in April of this year.
Found it ~~ approval was granted on May 26, 2006.
I have read a number of articles on shingles. What I have never seen though, is whether a person is susceptable to multiple bouts of the disease. Anyone know?
I think it depends on the overall health of the individual. Patients who are immuno-compromised, such as cancer patients or HIV patients can have recurrent infections from just about any virus.
Shingles, by definition, is a recurrence of latent chicken pox virus, and one bout is usually sufficient to provide immunity in an otherwise healthy individual.
Question: You only can get shingles if you have had the chickenpox virus,
right? Since nowadays children get vaccinated against chickenpox resp.
adults (like myself) who never had chickenpox, this should eliminate
shingles in a few decades.
Phoenix ~~ this is an excellent article on Shingles and includes a discussion on recurrence.
Quote:Risk for Recurrence of Shingles. Shingles can recur, but the risk is low (about 1% to 5% chance). There is some evidence that a first zoster episode boosts the immune system to ward off another attack. To support this, some elderly people with zoster who are exposed to children with chickenpox appear to have extra protection against a second zoster attack. Note: in people with impaired immune systems, such as those with AIDS, such a booster effect does not occur, and these patients are at particular risk for multiple recurrences of shingles.
Source
CalamityJane wrote:Question: You only can get shingles if you have had the chickenpox virus,
right? Since nowadays children get vaccinated against chickenpox resp.
adults (like myself) who never had chickenpox, this should eliminate
shingles in a few decades.
The problem with many childhood vaccines is that the duration of the immunity is unknown until such time that previously innoculated individuals start coming down with the disease. This phenomina became well-known a few years back when there was a measle outbreak in high schools and colleges among kids who had been immunized as young children.
Also, vaccines produced from live virus can, in some cases, be enough to trigger low-level disease in some individuals. My younger daughter had a case of measles from her measles vaccine.
JPB- Thanks for the info. Wanna hear something weird? I went with my husband to the ER, because he had developed these blisters. The triage nurse said that it looked liked shingles, and referred him to the ER doc. It was.
As an aside, I asked him to look at some funny looking stuff that was popping up on MY skin. He took one look, and told me to register at the ER.
Turned out that we BOTH had the shingles, at the same time. Now....................everything that I have read has said that shingles are not contageous. The doctors were incredulous that we both had it!
My husband actually had a worse case of it than me. We both had it on the face. I had it on one nerve path, and he had it on two. The ophthalmologist discharged me at least a month before he discharged my husband.
Very interesting! And you both had chicken pox as a primary illness when you were children? If so, that's very strange indeed.
Phoenix32890 wrote:I have read a number of articles on shingles. What I have never seen though, is whether a person is susceptable to multiple bouts of the disease. Anyone know?
One thing that brings it on, is emotional stress.
Shingles and chicken pox are both caused by the herpes virus ( Varicella-Zoster). When this virus is in an inactive form, it resides in the dorsal root ganglion of the spinal cord until activated by any one of a several factors.
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