# What's the Straight Dope on Shingles Vaccination? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378 "2013-01-25T22:53:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/101 "2015-04-30T04:16:07Z")
**WhyNot** , I think you reassured me before, but again – getting the vaccine doesn’t cause an outbreak of shingles? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/102 "2015-04-30T04:46:58Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > So why only one dose per lifetime? Why not a booster every 10 or 15 or 20 years? One important thing to remember: The shingles vaccine has been around for only 9 years (since 2006). There is still plenty of time to decide whether a booster after 20 years would be beneficial. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/103 "2015-04-30T04:57:19Z")
Interesting article in today’s news: GSK has a new shingles vaccine that has been 97% effective in trials and whose effectiveness holds up in older people. The vaccine is not yet available to the public and is still in testing. [Novel Shingles Vaccine Effective in Older Adults](http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/Vaccines/51269) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/104 "2015-04-30T12:00:31Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > **WhyNot** , I think you reassured me before, but again – getting the vaccine doesn’t cause an outbreak of shingles? It will not cause a full on shingles outbreak. In less than 1% of the people who get the vaccine, a rash will appear, either at the injection site or elsewhere. This rash may look like shingles, or it may look like chicken pox (more commonly it looks like shingles). But it clears in a week or so (shorter than shingles) and doesn’t hurt as much as shingles often does. In some studies, more people that got the \*placebo \*got a rash than people who got the shingles vaccine. In others, just slightly more people who got the vaccine got the rash than placebo. As for yesterday’s “rare or never” question, [I found this today](http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/hcp-vaccination.htm). Remember that zoster is shingles and varicella is chickenpox, and the two vaccines are slightly different and not considered interchangeable, even though the same virus causes both diseases: > [@](#): > > \*\*Transmission of the zoster (shingles) vaccine-associated virus has never been documented. Persons having close household or occupational contact with persons at risk for severe varicella need not take any precautions after receiving zoster vaccine except in rare instances in which a varicella-like rash develops, when standard contact precautions are adequate. \*\*Although transmission of Oka/Merck strain VZV has been documented following varicella vaccination, such transmission is rare and has only been documented when the vaccine recipient first developed a varicella-like rash. Rates of varicella-like rash appear to be less common following zoster vaccination than following varicella vaccination, and transmission of the Oka/Merck strain VZV from recipients of zoster vaccine has not been detected. Bolding mine. “Contact precautions” means covering the rash if it appears, or wearing gloves if you need to touch someone else’s skin. If you are an adult getting a shingles shot and you get a rash, then keep it covered if you live with someone who is immunocompromised, but remember that you’re being very very careful and no one has \*ever \*gotten the virus from another person’s shingles shot. If your \*kid \*has gotten a _chicken pox_ vaccine and gets a rash, maybe have him go stay with Auntie for a few days until the rash goes away, if there is an immunocompromised person in the home as well. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/105 "2015-04-30T13:43:56Z")
Two of my sisters had shingles before the age of 60. My mother had it (on her face) in her 70’s. My 55 year-old co-worker just had a really nasty case of it in the past year. Anecdotal but that scares me enough that I got mine at age 53 and paid $200 out-of-pocket for it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/106 "2015-05-01T02:04:56Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > Two of my sisters had shingles before the age of 60. My mother had it (on her face) in her 70’s. My 55 year-old co-worker just had a really nasty case of it in the past year. Anecdotal but that scares me enough that I got mine at age 53 and paid $200 out-of-pocket for it. +1 Username / post content. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/107 "2015-05-01T03:21:38Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > Two of my sisters had shingles before the age of 60. My mother had it (on her face) in her 70’s. My 55 year-old co-worker just had a really nasty case of it in the past year. Anecdotal but that scares me enough that I got mine at age 53 and paid $200 out-of-pocket for it. Yes, I’m frightened enough of it that I am going to ask at my annual checkup. I’ve heard too many horror stories! ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/108 "2015-05-01T06:01:47Z")
A related question. I am 44 and never had chickenpox, and on one of my daughter’s regular check ups I asked her doctor if I should get vaccinated. He agreed I should. Most natives are vaccinated against it because vaccination here is universal, mandatory and free (at public vaccination centers if one is too poor to afford private insurance). However, there’s people from all over the world where I live, I could still get it from a foreign kid. Should I get the shot at my age? ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/109 "2015-05-01T07:53:26Z")
I’ve read the thread and I don’t think this was answered, but apologies if if I’m repeating. I had shingles at, I now realize, a very young age–27. It was awful. I remember lying awake with my face on fire. My GF woke up and realized how bad I was suffering and yelled at me to take more opiates–don’t remember which kind, but the doctor said every 4 hours and it had only been 3 1/2… Now I know more about the acetaminophen OD possibility, but after her panicky admonition I gobbled the pills down to quench the burning. 20 years later my face still burns and itches, more so when I think about it, as when reading this thread! I did not lose my eyesight, but the doctors were worried, and my case was sufficiently rare that the doctors took pictures for a medical textbook (with my permission). Anyway, my question is, should I get the vaccine now? I am young for it, but I never want that pain again–and I’ve had plenty more bad pain from other sources. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/110 "2015-05-01T07:54:47Z")
Related question–my wife has had tehe chickenpox vaccine as a child but never chickenpox. Does she need to be re-vaccinated? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/111 "2015-05-01T12:13:17Z")
Once we get into specific “should I” questions, that’s doctorin’, which is best done by a doctor, specifically \*your \*doctor. My general recommendation is that people who are eligible by medical guidelines, have insurance or the means to pay and no contraindications to the vaccine get vaccinated. While your personal health history may affect your eligibility and the timeline of when insurance may or may not pay for it, those are details best evaluated by your own personal doctor and insurance company. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/112 "2015-05-01T12:42:35Z")
A small percentage of chickenpox infections are subclinical (about 5% according to [this source](http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-cdi34suppl.htm~cda-cdi34suppl-3-vpd.htm~cda-cdi34suppl-3-vpd16.htm)), meaning they don’t produce obvious symptoms. So it is possible to have been exposed to the virus and carry it in a dormant state without knowing it (and thus possible to get shingles later on). One could (at least theoretically) get an antibody test to try to confirm old infection and determine whether a shingles shot is a good idea. I don’t know offhand what the rate of false negative results of an antibody test would be, and whether just getting the shot (for those in the recommended age group) would be a better bet. Ask your doc.\* \*interestingly, when I suggested to my primary care doc a few years ago that I might need a shingles shot, he discouraged it, noting that one of his patients got shingles shortly after getting the vaccine. As of last year he had wised up and was now recommending shingles vaccination. Seeing a severe case or two of shingles tends to make an impression on you. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/113 "2015-05-01T12:47:48Z")
60 yo here - just got the vaccine yesterday. I have TriCare (retired military) so there was no cost to me. I did have a reaction to the vaccination, though - pretty bad diarrhea and intestinal discomfort. I’m fine this morning. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/114 "2015-05-01T16:22:34Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > 60 yo here - just got the vaccine yesterday. I have TriCare (retired military) so there was no cost to me. > > I did have a reaction to the vaccination, though - pretty bad diarrhea and intestinal discomfort. I’m fine this morning. I didn’t have any of those reactions and haven’t had reactions to any other vaccines but the shingles vaccine left my arm feeling very sore and bruised for a week. Well worth it though if it does what it’s supposed to do. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/115 "2015-05-01T16:36:19Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > A related question. I am 44 and never had chickenpox, and on one of my daughter’s regular check ups I asked her doctor if I should get vaccinated. He agreed I should. Most natives are vaccinated against it because vaccination here is universal, mandatory and free (at public vaccination centers if one is too poor to afford private insurance). However, there’s people from all over the world where I live, I could still get it from a foreign kid. > > Should I get the shot at my age? I would say yes. Chickenpox in adults is far more serious than in children. Person anecdote: I had chickenpox at 31. Took 10 months to return to full-time work(did part-time work before that) due to lingering weakness and fatigue. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/116 "2015-05-01T17:12:09Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > I didn’t have any of those reactions and haven’t had reactions to any other vaccines but the shingles vaccine left my arm feeling very sore and bruised for a week. Well worth it though if it does what it’s supposed to do. No reactions here. My arm was itchy when I woke up this morning after the shingles vaccination yesterday, but I peeled the small, round Band-Aid-like sticker off and that ended the itch. There is no evidence of the injection. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/117 "2015-05-01T17:45:56Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > I didn’t have any of those reactions and haven’t had reactions to any other vaccines but the shingles vaccine left my arm feeling very sore and bruised for a week. Well worth it though if it does what it’s supposed to do. My doctor told me that the soreness may happen, but it didn’t. He didn’t mention the possible intestinal problems at all. Small price to pay, though. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/118 "2015-05-02T17:09:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Oh, no, I don’t think so. See the masthead? “Fighting Ignorance” is kind of our thing here. I’m perfectly willing to keep things polite and have a discussion here, but I will not allow ignorance - particularly ignorance which has the effect of causing people pain, suffering, blindness and death - to stand unchallenged. This isn’t something you can Lol away. > > I will also state here that I’m only half talking to you. I don’t much care if I persuade you, personally, to change your views. But I know there are other antivaxxers (I assume that’s what you mean by “those people”) who are reading along, and THEY deserve accurate information as much as anyone else. > > So, that being said, not a single person has gotten sick from viral shedding from the shingles vaccine. Not one in the history of recorded medicine. Yes, people with pregnant family members are advised by some doctors to stay away from them after they get shingles vaccine, out of an abundance of caution. We also tell pregnant women not to drink a drop of alcohol, while we know darn well that the chance of a single glass of wine in the third trimester is absolutely not going to harm a fetus. No one wants to risk even the slightest harm to a pregnant woman or her fetus. The CDC does NOT recommend that recently vaccinated for shingles people avoid pregnant women, in fact. That’s an individual doctor’s recommendation out of an overabundance of caution, because again, _not a single person_ has gotten chicken pox from a shingles vaccine. > > In a very small number of people virus from the vaccine can be collected from non-injection site lesions. (And when I say very small, I mean that I can find confirmation of 2 people, ever - [those two people came from a preapproval clinical trial by the makers of ZOSTAVAX](http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/z/zostavax/zostavax_pi2.pdf)) This is indeed evidence of “viral shedding” in those two people. But…so what? The presence of shedding does not indicated the potential for transmission, and no one got chicken pox from them. If you get a rash after a shingles shot, then cover the rash, by all means, until it’s gone. But know that you’re doing so because you’re being exceedingly careful and prudent, not because anyone has ever gotten chicken pox from it. > > Want to know what \*often \*spreads chicken pox from viral shedding? Shingles. If you have shingles, and you’re around an unvaccinated person who has never had chicken pox, your shingles rash can shed virus and give them chicken pox, and eventually shingles. Real shingles rashes shed virus in copious amounts, and HAVE been seen to cause disease transmission, unlike vaccine related rashes. > > If you are truly interested in preventing viral shedding, you should be encouraging people to get vaccinated so they don’t experience viral shedding from the natural disease. Because that actually does give people chicken pox. Sorry for quote such a large post, but I need to applaud this post. Thank you \*\*WhyNot \*\*for fighting ignorance so well. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/119 "2015-05-02T20:10:31Z")
> [@AllShookDown](#): > > I didn’t have any of those reactions and haven’t had reactions to any other vaccines but the shingles vaccine left my arm feeling very sore and bruised for a week. Well worth it though if it does what it’s supposed to do. I just got the shot yesterday. No ill effects today except a mildly sore arm that I didn’t think about until you reminded me. ---
**Author:** ![remorw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/0ea827/32.png) [@remorw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/remorw)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378/120 "2016-09-23T15:39:58Z")
Hi, I know this is an old thread but it’s the one I found on this topic (so apologies in advance). I personally think the advertising for this vaccine is very misleading here in the U.S. Anyone thinking of getting this vaccine should read this article: [http://commonground.ca/OLD/iss/253/cg253\_cassels.shtml](http://commonground.ca/OLD/iss/253/cg253_cassels.shtml) It, along with other sources, shows a much different story than what I’ve heard ads and doctors say. For example, even though the CDC website acknowledges that the vaccine is only good for about 5 years (other research indicates only 3), no one I know who has inquired about the vaccine has been told that. I think it’s irresponsible to push people to get a vaccine when it’s known lifetime effectiveness is short. In the U.S. people over 50 are being actively encouraged to get this vaccine. Also, the 51% effectiveness is questionable (see the article I posted above). Also, the information in this and other articles to me clearly indicates that the often heard ‘1 in 3 people will get shingles in their lifetime’ rap mentioned over and over is, at best, misleading. I strongly suggest doing thorough research on this before considering getting this vaccine, especially if you have never had any symptoms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-shingles-vaccination/648378.md?page=7)