Do senior people need to receive Shingles vaccine?

Do senior people need to receive Shingles vaccine?  what is the benefit? The expert answered important questions about Shingles vaccine.

1. What disease is shingles? What are the symptoms and manifestations?

Herpes zoster, commonly known as loincloth and snake loincloth, is a skin disease caused by varicella-zoster virus infection. Herpes zoster is a common disease in dermatology. In addition to skin damage, it is often accompanied by neuropathic pain. It often occurs in older, immunosuppressed or immunodeficient people, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients.

The typical clinical manifestations of herpes zoster include mild fatigue, low fever, loss of appetite and other systemic symptoms before the rash, conscious burning sensation or neuralgia in the affected area, obvious allodynia to the touch, or rash without prodromal symptoms.

The course of the disease is generally 2 to 3 weeks, and 3 to 4 weeks for the elderly.

2. Who are the high-risk groups of shingles? Is it serious?

The incidence and severity of shingles increase with age, especially after the age of 50. According to statistics, about 1.56 million people in some countries who are 50 years old and above will get shingles every year.

Herpes zoster is very painful, such as knife cutting, fire, electric shock, whiplash, and the pain level is higher than that of childbirth. Even some patients will have inattention, sleep disturbance, anxiety, depression and other states, which are affected by physical and psychological conditions. The double torture.

There are limited treatments for shingles so far, and it may recur after recovery. 5-30% of patients with shingles will have post-herpetic neuralgia, which means that the pain will continue for months or years.

3. Is there a limit on the age of vaccination for shingles vaccine?

The shingles vaccine is suitable for adults 50 years of age and older.

4.  how does shingles cause?

Shingles is caused by varicella-zoster virus infection. When the virus is first infected, it is manifested as varicella, which mostly occurs in childhood. When the chickenpox disappears, the virus will become latent in the human body. As the age increases, the body’s resistance decreases and it will become active again, and shingles will appear. Although chickenpox and shingles are caused by the same virus infection, the severity of herpes zoster is not at the same level as that of chickenpox. It is an upgraded version of chickenpox.

5. Can the shingles vaccine prevent chickenpox?

The shingles vaccine is used to prevent shingles. It cannot prevent chickenpox.

6. How many shots of shingles vaccine do I need? How long is the interval?

The immunization schedule for shingles vaccine is two doses of 0.5 ml each. The second dose and the first dose are given 2 months apart. If the vaccination needs to be postponed for special reasons, the second dose is best to be given within 6 months after the first dose.

7. Do I still need to be vaccinated against shingles after having herpes zoster?

It is necessary to vaccinate, because there is a possibility of recurrence of shingles. Vaccination can prevent the recurrence of shingles. However, shingles cannot be vaccinated during the onset of the disease, and the shingles vaccine should be vaccinated after the disease has recovered.

8. What are the adverse reactions after inoculation of shingles vaccine?

According to clinical trials, the adverse reactions after inoculation of shingles vaccine are mostly mild to moderate, and the duration is short, generally lasting 1-3 days. The most common adverse reactions after vaccination include pain at the injection site, redness and swelling, muscle pain, fatigue, headache, chills, fever, and gastrointestinal symptoms.

(source:internet, reference only)

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