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PSA: Get your shingles shot!

19 May 2023

If you’re 50 or over and haven’t had a shingles vaccination yet, I’m writing today to encourage you to get the Shingrix series. In 2011, my husband had a terrible case of shingles. So as soon as I turned 50 I worked hard to get vaccinated against shingles. (It wasn’t easy, believe it or not!) And then in 2017 when the new, improved two-part Shingrix vaccination came out, I got that.

Shingles are caused by the same virus as chicken pox. If you had chicken pox as a child, the virus is lying dormant in your body. I understand it usually comes out as shingles when you’re immune compromised or under stress.

Here’s the thing: The Shingrix vaccination doesn’t necessarily prevent you from getting shingles (though, according to the CDC website, it is 97 percent effective in preventing the disease in healthy adults aged 50 to 69). But it does it make it less severe if you do get it. And that’s what happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I had a painful, itchy, oozy rash on my scalp and neck. Because I’d been vaccinated, I didn’t even consider that the rash might be shingles. I didn’t feel at all sick and I was very busy, so I just kept going without giving it a lot of thought, though I couldn’t let any clothes touch my neck. (That was tough because it was right where a shirt’s neckline would hit…I ended up wearing a reversible v-neck dress backwards for several days.)

Six days after the rash started, and after it was starting to dry up, I went to the chiropractor for my tennis elbow (getting older isn’t easy!) and she told me it was shingles. It was too late to take the anti-viral. Several days later the rash was all but gone and had stopped itching.

I am so glad I had the Shingrix vaccination. If I hadn’t, a really busy, stressful week would have been disrupted and that would have been a real challenge.

So I’m here to say that if you’re 50 or older, please consider getting this vaccination. When I got it, the second vaccination made me feel like I had the flu for the day after the shot. But it was definitely worth a day on the couch!

For more information on shingles and the Shingrix shot, check out the CDC website.

Tagged with: health

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