Mys sister is 66 and recently got a shingles vaccine. I am 59 and am going
to ask my oncologist what he things...Catherine
Shingles Vaccine to Be Routine at 60
Federal Advisory Panel Acts to Reduce Painful Disease and Complications
By
Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by
Louise Chang, MD
Oct. 25, 2006 - The CDC's vaccine advisory panel today voted to make shingles vaccination routine for all Americans 60 and older.
Shingles is a painful disease caused by reactivation of dormant varicella zoster virus, or VZV. Best known as the virus that causes
chickenpoxchickenpox, VZV is a
herpesherpes virus that can come back with a vengeance when a person's immunity wanes with age, disease, or immunity-suppressing drugs.
Without vaccination, about 20% of people who have had chickenpox eventually will get shingles. A person who lives to be 85 has a 50% chance of getting shingles.
Shingles is a bad enough disease to be a good reason to get vaccinated.
But in about a third of cases, shingles turns into an excruciatingly painful disease called postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN. A smaller percentage will get a painful, blinding disease called ophthalmic zoster.
The new vaccine, Merck's Zostavax, won FDA approval last May
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