Should I have a 'shingles' jab ?

[vickster]

Shingrix is the one to get.
There are 2 shingles vaccines used in the UK: Zostavax, a live vaccine given as 1 dose. Shingrix, a non-live vaccine given as 2 doses, 2 months apart.

(Worth the 2nd jab.)

Likely won’t get to choose if NHS, like any free jab (assuming no contraindications to any particular option)

 

[Gwylan]

I know its my decision but I don't know anything about it.
I am 76 and got a phone call out of the blue asking me to go to the surgery for it.
With recent health problems PLUS all the covid stuff I am sick of of having needles stuck in me and bloods taken out.......but it its important and no side effects I will have it.

The jab beats the crap out of shingles. There are also a string of other things that shingles can precipitate

 

[a.twiddler]

Surprising that the conspiracy theorists haven't got to work on this one as well. Perhaps because it's so little known. It's just a vaccination. It works, as they pretty much all do, with rare exceptions. Much like the COVID ones, if only the self publicists, the misinformationists, the political footballers, could have left those alone too. Having a vaccination against various diseases is a small thing in itself, but can improve people's lives so much, yet the effect is that you don't get something that might make your life miserable, or shorten it, or end it. Yet people say, well, I might never have got it anyway, and that could be true too as it's hard to prove a negative. Still, if a vaccination is available it stacks the odds in your favour, so surely better to have it than not, especially if it's free.

 

[lazybloke]

The NHS only offer the jab between 70 and 79. Apparently it's less effective after that window .
I don't know why it's not offered sooner.

Don't know if my grandmother ever had the option of a jab; she suffered shingles at the grand age of 104 and had a very rough time of it... but did recover.

 

[vickster]

The NHS only offer the jab between 70 and 79. Apparently it's less effective after that window .
I don't know why it's not offered sooner.

Cost partly as it’s pretty new, but also shingles most common and more severe in over 70s

 

[tom73]

The NHS only offer the jab between 70 and 79. Apparently it's less effective after that window .
I don't know why it's not offered sooner.

Don't know if my grandmother ever had the option of a jab; she suffered shingles at the grand age of 104 and had a very rough time of it... but did recover.

It's all down to clinical effectiveness and most risk group.

@Dave7 Remember if you've any questions and concerns then talk to the Nurse about them when you go. They will be happy to go though things with you. It's all part of checking informed consent anyway as they ask if you're happy to have it. So you get the chance then to ask questions. You can also check on the NHS website for clear and fact based information.

 

[yello]

I'll be getting the jab (my doc recommended it, I did 't even know there was one) after I'm clear of the bout I'm going through at the moment. No way do I want a repeat. I'm on the mend but still get the zinging stabby pains. It could be weeks until they go - and a rare chance they won't go at all. Horrid illness that I wouldn't wish on anyone. If the jab prevents a repeat, I'm in.

 

[KnittyNorah]

I'll be getting the jab (my doc recommended it, I did 't even know there was one) after I'm clear of the bout I'm going through at the moment. No way do I want a repeat. I'm on the mend but still get the zinging stabby pains. It could be weeks until they go - and a rare chance they won't go at all. Horrid illness that I wouldn't wish on anyone. If the jab prevents a repeat, I'm in.

Yep, my shingles - although nasty - was really quite mild compared to that of many people of a similar age I've heard of, who hadn't had either of the shingles vax. So I'm happy to recommend it on that basis alone.

Also have to add that because I had a very unusual presentation of it, diagnosis was delayed inasmuch as taking anti-virals would've been useless and even the amitryptiline for nerve pain was less effective than if it had been prescribed promptly. I was actually waiting for an urgent (but not emergency) MRI and doppler U/S, such were my pain levels, with absolute normality of blood and urine tests, when out popped the rash and told us everything we'd been wondering about for several days!

 

[Buck]

Zostavax is the current vaccination offered - single dose of a live vaccine.

This is changing to Shingrix later this year - two doses of a recombinant vaccine given 2-6 months apart. (Zostavax will no longer be offered)

The good news is that the age of eligibility is being reduced gradually to over 65s and also those who are deemed to be immuno-compromised over 50 year old.


If you can get the vaccine, do. The effects of shingles can be severe and long lasting.