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Shingles Vaccine Safe, Underutilized, Study Says
Posted 23 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 23 – The shingles vaccine is generally safe and well tolerated by patients, according to a new study. Shingles, which affects more than 1 million people each year in the United States, is a painful contagious rash caused by the dormant chickenpox virus, which can reactivate and replicate, damaging the nervous system. Elderly people are especially at risk because immunity against the virus that causes shingles declines with age. In this study, researchers looked at data from more than 193,000 adults 50 and older who received the shingles vaccine, also known as the herpes zoster vaccine, over two years. There was a small increased risk of local reactions (redness and pain) from one to seven days after vaccination. This finding matches the results of clinical trials. The shingles vaccine did not increase the risk for cerebrovascular diseases; cardiovascular diseases; ... Read more
Related support groups: Herpes Zoster, Zostavax, Herpes Zoster -- Prophylaxis, Zoster Vaccine Live
Children With Asthma at Higher Risk for Shingles: Study
Posted 5 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, March 5 – Children with asthma have a higher risk for developing shingles – a painful skin rash – following infection with the herpes zoster virus, new research reveals. The authors noted that 1 million Americans are estimated to be infected with the herpes zoster virus every year. However, typically it's a problem that strikes men and women over the age of 60 or people with weakened immune systems. Researchers analyzed 277 medical records involving patients under the age of 18 who had experienced an episode of shingles between 1996 and 2001. Stacking up the shingles cases against 277 children who had no history of shingles, the team found that asthmatic patients were 2.2 times more likely to have a case of shingles compared to those who did not have asthma. While 23 percent of the shingles patients had a history of asthma before the onset of shingles, only 35 patients ... Read more
Related support groups: Asthma, Herpes Zoster
Health Tip: Getting the Shingles Vaccine
Posted 5 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com
-- The Zostavax vaccine helps protect against shingles, a painful infection caused by herpes zoster, the same virus that causes chickenpox. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers these guidelines for getting the shingles vaccine: Who should get the vaccine: Anyone who is 60 or older, whether or not they can recall having had chickenpox as a child. Researchers have found that more than 99 percent of Americans 40 and older have had chickenpox, even if they don't remember being sick. Who should NOT get the vaccine: Anyone who has ever had a serious reaction to gelatin, the antibiotic neomycin, or any other ingredient in the shingles vaccine. Speak with your doctor if you have any severe allergies. Anyone with a weakened immune system should speak with their doctor before getting the vaccine. Anyone taking immune-suppressing drugs or undergoing chemotherapy or ... Read more
Related support groups: Herpes Zoster, Zostavax
Fear Proves Prime Motivator for Vaccinations
Posted 16 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Sept. 16 – Sometimes a little fear might be a good thing. To run an effective public vaccination program, you've got to make sure that adequate amounts of the vaccine are available and there are enough staff members to administer it, said Dr. Adewale Troutman, director of the public health practice program at the University of South Florida, who, until recently, headed the Department of Public Health and Wellness in Louisville. You also have to figure out when the public will be available to come get the vaccinations you offer. And, of course, you need to make sure they are properly frightened. Fear has proven to be the most potent motivator in getting people to not shrug off important immunizations, like an annual flu shot, Troutman said. "The influenza vaccine is really an important immunization that people discount because, ehh, it's just the flu," he said. "But tens of ... Read more
Related support groups: Influenza, Herpes Zoster, Swine Influenza, Zostavax, FluLaval, Afluria, Fluzone, FluMist, Flushield, Fluzone Preservative-Free, Influenza Virus Vaccine, Live, Trivalent, Fluzone WV, Fluogen, Fluvirin, Herpes Zoster -- Prophylaxis
Study Finds Shingles May Be Related to Elevated Risk of Multiple Sclerosis
Posted 17 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
Taiwanese investigators have found that there can be a significantly higher risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) occurring in the year following a shingles, or herpes zoster, attack. The findings, which support a long-held view on how MS may develop, are published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases and now available online (http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/06/07/infdis.jir239.abstract). MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, leading to inflammation and nerve damage as the body’s immune cells attack the nervous system. Possible causes that may trigger the inflammation include environmental, genetic, and viral factors. One virus that has been associated with MS is varicella zoster virus, the cause of herpes zoster. In a study conducted by Herng-Ching Lin, PhD, and colleagues at Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, 315,550 adults with herpes z ... Read more
Related support groups: Multiple Sclerosis, Herpes Zoster
U.S. Shingles Vaccine Approval Expanded
Posted 26 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, March 24 – The Zostavax shingles vaccine is now approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for people aged 50 and older. FDA-sanctioned use of the vaccine, first approved in 2006, had been limited to people 60 and older. The expanded approval includes the about 200,000 people aged 50 to 59 who contract shingles each year, the agency said in a news release. Shingles is caused by the same varicella-zoster virus that caused chickenpox when the affected people were younger. The virus lies dormant in the body until years later, when for reasons that aren't understood, it re-emerges as shingles – commonly in older people with weakened immune systems. Shingles is characterized by a painful blistery rash, often on one side of the body. In some people, the severe pain can last for months or years after shingles emerges, the FDA said. The vaccine was clinically evaluated in ... Read more
Related support groups: Herpes Zoster, Zostavax, Herpes Zoster -- Prophylaxis
COPD May Make Shingles More Likely
Posted 23 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 22 – People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, are more likely than others to develop shingles, according to a new study. Shingles is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, and results in a painful rash with lesions. Though it was already known that people with a weakened immune system face an increased risk for the condition, the researchers of the current study wanted to look specifically at people with COPD. The study authors analyzed data on 42,430 Taiwan residents, including 8,486 people with COPD. During the follow-up period, 321 cases of shingles were diagnosed among those with COPD (16.4 cases per 1,000 person-years) and 759 cases among the others (8.8 cases per 1,000 person-years). The risk was highest for people taking inhaled or oral corticosteroids to treat COPD, the investigators found. Hui-Wen Lin and colleagues from the Taipei Medical ... Read more
Related support groups: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Herpes Zoster
Shingles Returns More Often Than Thought
Posted 10 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 8 – Repeat cases of shingles may be more common than suspected, contends a new study that challenges the long-held belief that people only get shingles once in a lifetime. People with shingles develop a specific type of rash and sometimes severe pain. The condition is caused by the herpes zoster virus. Researchers at the Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., analyzed the medical records of nearly 1,700 patients, aged 22 and older, diagnosed with shingles between 1996 and 2001. Over an average follow-up of eight years, the shingles recurrence rate was more than 5 percent. That's the same percentage of first cases that would be expected in the same age group in the general population, according to the authors of the study published in the February issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. "And that's only within eight years. As you continue to follow these ... Read more
Related support groups: Herpes Zoster
Shingles Vaccine Looks Like a Safe Bet for Seniors: Study
Posted 11 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Jan. 11 – Jane Adrian, 61, a landscape architect in Glendale, Calif., saw her parents and two co-workers suffer from the painful, blistering condition known as shingles, so when the vaccine became available, she got it. Even though the vaccine is only about 55 percent effective, "it's better than nothing," she said. "Now I feel relieved." A study of a cross-section of adults enrolled with a health-management organization in southern California shows that the vaccine provides protection for many older adults without many side effects. The findings are published in the Jan. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Shingles is caused by the herpes zoster virus and only strikes people who have had chicken pox. It usually starts as a rash on one side of the face or body, often causing pain, itching and tingling. About a million cases occur in the United States ... Read more
Related support groups: Herpes Zoster, Zostavax, Herpes Zoster -- Prophylaxis
Chicken Pox Shot Protects Against Shingles, Too
Posted 4 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Dec. 4 – Children who are vaccinated against chicken pox may also have increased protection against shingles, new findings suggest. U.S. researchers looked at the health records of 172,163 children in southern California who were vaccinated with the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine between 2002 and 2008. Over an average of 2.5 years after receiving the chicken pox vaccine, only 122 cases of shingles (herpes zoster) occurred among the children, an estimated incidence of one case per 3,700 children per year. That rate is lower than what would be expected in unvaccinated children, according to the researchers. "The message to parents and pediatricians is: vaccinating your child against the chicken pox is also a good way to reduce their chances of getting herpes zoster," study lead author HungFu Tseng, a research scientist and epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Department of ... Read more
Related support groups: Herpes Zoster, Varicella-Zoster, Varicella Virus Vaccine, Varivax, Varicella-Zoster -- Prophylaxis
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