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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

Too Few American Adults Getting Needed Vaccinations: CDC

Posted 2 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 2 – Each year, some 45,000 Americans die from diseases that could have been prevented by vaccines, health officials said Thursday. Despite this, the number of American adults who get needed vaccines remains low, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "There were some modest increases in coverage, but for very few vaccines," said Dr. Carolyn B. Bridges, associate director of adult immunization at the CDC and co-author of the report. "Coverage is much lower than we would like to see it." The data was published in the Feb. 3 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. According to the report, 2010 (the latest year covered by the report) saw only a small increase in the rate of uptake for just three vaccines. The rate of the tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination increased 1.6 percent, to 8.2 percent. Tdap ... Read more

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

Vaccinations Aren't Just for Kids

Posted 16 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Sept. 16 – Public health experts often focus immunization awareness efforts toward protecting children, and with good reason: Facing a potentially bewildering schedule of vaccinations for their young ones, parents usually need all the help they can get. But vaccinations aren't just kid stuff. Medical science is creating an increasing number of immunizations targeted at adults, to help them avoid life-threatening diseases in middle-age and opportunistic infections when they're older. "Immunization is a life-long issue that we need to pay a lot of attention to," said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. Some adult vaccinations are very well-known, like the annual shot that aims to prevent the spread of influenza. "You need an influenza shot every year," Benjamin said. "Part of that is because the virus changes every year, ... Read more

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

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

Shingles Vaccine Associated With 55 Percent Reduced Risk of Disease

Posted 12 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com

Kaiser Permanente Research Strengthens National Recommendations PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ – Receiving the herpes zoster vaccine was associated with a 55 percent reduced risk of developing shingles, according to a Kaiser Permanente study of 300,000 people that appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. This retrospective study observed the outcomes of the effectiveness of the herpes zoster vaccine in a large, diverse population of men and women ages 60 years and older. Researchers found a significant reduced risk of shingles across all sub-groups – those who are healthy as well as those with chronic conditions including diabetes or heart, lung or kidney diseases. These study findings differ from the clinical trial of the vaccine, which observed its effectiveness on 38,000 participants 60 years of age and older and found it less ... Read more

Related support groups: Zostavax, Herpes Zoster -- Prophylaxis

Vaccine For Shingles Ailment Effective -- And Seldom Used, Study Says

Posted 12 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com

Vaccine For Shingles Ailment Effective – And Seldom Used, Study Says [The Miami Herald] From Miami Herald (FL) (January 12, 2011) Jan. 12--Jeffrey Dorn is an amateur gardener, so at first he thought the blisters on his left thigh were caused by fire ant bites. But when the blisters became "much, much, much" worse, he stopped applying Calamine lotion and saw his doctor. He had shingles, a painful disease that attacks mostly people older than 50. "It was horrendous," he said. "Like someone holding a match to your skin in 48 places, 24 hours a day." For Dorn, a 69-year-old retired Xerox exec from Miami, the disease waned after eight weeks of "industrial-strength" prescription pain killers. For some, it can become chronic for years, even causing eye problems and, rarely, blindness. But a new national study says people who get a little-known shingles vaccination can cut their risk of the ... Read more

Related support groups: Zostavax

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

Parents Still Worried About Vaccine Safety

Posted 1 Mar 2010 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 1 – Although most American parents vaccinate their children, many are concerned about the safety of vaccines and some choose not to have their children protected from potentially deadly diseases, a new study found. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that while 90 percent of parents say vaccines are a good way to protect their kids, and 88 percent follow their doctor's vaccination recommendations, 54 percent are worried about serious side effects. "Parents' hesitation about vaccines has, in some cases, led them to postpone vaccinations for their children," said lead researcher Dr. Gary L. Freed, director of the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan Health System. "The study found that 12 percent of parents have refused at least one vaccine that their children's doctor recommended." "When parents refuse vaccines, they place ... Read more

Getting Shingles Vaccine Easier

Posted 8 Feb 2010 by Drugs.com

Getting Shingles Vaccine Easier [The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio] From Columbus Dispatch (OH) (February 8, 2010) Feb. 8--In theory, people should have scrambled to get the shingles vaccine. The disease is notoriously painful and quite common, especially in those 80 or older. But long after Zostavax was approved in 2006 for people 60 or older, vaccination rates remained low. For a time, the vaccine was in short supply, so even those who heard about it and wanted it couldn't get a shot. But even after supplies improved, obstacles remained. The Medicare prescription-drug plan pays for the vaccine, which means you could get it for the cost of a co-pay at a pharmacy, but pharmacists initially weren't allowed to give the shots. Doctors could, but going to the doctor meant an initial out-of-pocket cost of $200 or more, because the Medicare plan that pays for office visits didn't cover the ... Read more

Related support groups: Zostavax

Too Few Adults Get Recommended Vaccinations

Posted 4 Feb 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 4 – Most parents make sure their children get all their vaccinations, but when it comes to adults these protective shots often fall by the wayside, a new report shows. In fact, 40,000 to 50,000 American adults die each year from diseases that vaccines could have prevented, according to the report, Adult Immunization: Shots to Save Lives. The report was released jointly Thursday by the Trust for America's Health, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "This country does not have an effective strategy for immunizing adults against infectious diseases," Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said during a morning teleconference. "Thousands of lives could be saved each year if we could increase the number of adults who receive routine and recommended vaccinations. We need a national strategy to make ... Read more

U.S. Childhood Vaccine Rates Good But Could Be Better: CDC

Posted 12 Jan 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Aug. 27 – More than three-quarters of United States children have received the recommended vaccinations, but greater efforts are needed to reach youngsters who are not fully immunized, a US government report finds. A 2008 survey of children from 19 months to 35 months of age, born between January 2005 and June 2007, found that 76.1 percent had received the recommended series of vaccines (called the 4:3:1:3:3:1 series), a rate statistically similar to the estimate of 77.4 percent in 2007. The national goal for coverage is 80 percent. "Vaccination is one of the most important things parents can do to protect their children's health," Dr. Melinda Wharton, deputy director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a CDC news release. "Thanks to the hard work of doctors and nurses and other immunization providers and the commitment of parents, rates ... Read more

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Herpes Zoster -- Prophylaxis