New Guidelines for Shingles Vaccine
Friday May 16, 2008
The CDC recently released new guidelines on who should get the shingles vaccine. Previously the CDC recommended all people over 60 who have never had shingles get the vaccine. Now they are recommending that anyone over 60, regardless of whether they've had shingles, should get the vaccine.
Shingles is a burning, blistering rash cause by a reactivation of the same virus that causes chicken pox. One possible complication of shingles is a condition called post-herpetic neuralgia, which causes severe pain that can last months after the rash has gone away.
The shingles vaccine is made of weakened portions of the chicken pox virus and has been shown to prevent shingles from developing or lessen the severity of the symptoms. It also helps prevent post-herpetic neuralgia. Recent studies have shown that it helps prevent recurrences even in people who've had shingles in the past.
Comments
Great info!
I would like to point out, that Zostavax can cause shingles. I was a healthy 64 year old male who received the Zostavax vaccine on 2/5/08. Ten days later, my doctor diagnosed me with “classic shingles”. He put me on Valtrex for 7 days and 1 month later was still suffering with red spots on my (right) chest, severe pain in my right arm and shoulder, and severe itching. I notified Merck and my doctor also did! I read Merck’s “double blind” studies, and nowhere does it simply say: this vaccine can cause you to contract shingles. I have all the documentation as well as pictures. Please caution anyone who wants to gamble with their health. I don’t believe Merck is being as honest as they should regarding the safety of this vaccine.
David Rand appears to be saying that, because he contracted shingles after getting the vaccine, the vaccine CAUSED him to get shingles. Unfortunately, Mr. Rand doesn’t appreciate the difference between correlation and causality. Just because you got into an auto accident immediately following the only time you’ve eaten turnips, that doesn’t mean that eating turnips caused the accident.
Such claims of causal linkages without foundation are ubiquitous but disheartening. The news media is often as ignorant as Mr. Rand about the fallacy of associating connections with cause, absent controlled studies establishing such a relationship. You will find such baseless connections made almost every night on the evening news.