Should I have a 'shingles' jab ?

[Buck]

Many people may have had chickenpox without realising so the advice is to have the Shingrix vaccine if you are eligible regardless of whether you “know” you’ve had chickenpox or not.

I had mine last year (eligible due to my being immune suppressed) I certainly don’t want shingles as it is horrible.

The 1st vaccine made my arm super tender for a few days but the 2nd one 8 weeks later was a much milder effect.

 

[Fastpedaller]

I was offered the shingles vaccine recently and have declined for now - I had shingles in Jan 2021. I suspect my system was 'knocked' by the covid I clearly had in Jan 2020 (before it was 'reported' as being in UK) as the symptoms were exactly as I had in July 2021 with covid +ve test. If it helps anyone, I had symptoms of shingles 11 days before the rash arrived - If I stepped over something and brought my right foot down there was a pain up my whole leg. The shingles affected my right upper leg. Anti-virals and I didn't have much energy for about 6 weeks.

 

[a.twiddler]

Chicken pox is highly infectious, and you could catch it quite easily in later life even if you avoided it as a child. Apart from being much more serious if you have it as an adult, it then leaves you open to having shingles in later life. The reason for not having chickenpox vaccinations routinely on the NHS seems to be more due to cost than any risk of getting shingles from it in in old age. The risk of that is statistically minute. Perhaps it's more to do with the fact that chickenpox in young children is often relatively mild and short lasting, though there has been discussion about including it in the general vaccination programme. Very rarely, chickenpox can have more serious consequences in children. It's generally available for healthcare workers or those in high risk groups.
It is part of the routine vaccination plan in for children in the USA and some other countries.
Although shingles is something that you are highly unlikely to catch from another person with shingles, you could catch chicken pox from them if you've not had it, or not been vaccinated.

 

[BrumJim]

Chicken pox is highly infectious, and you could catch it quite easily in later life even if you avoided it as a child. Apart from being much more serious if you have it as an adult, it then leaves you open to having shingles in later life. The reason for not having chickenpox vaccinations routinely on the NHS seems to be more due to cost than any risk of getting shingles from it in in old age. The risk of that is statistically minute. Perhaps it's more to do with the fact that chickenpox in young children is often relatively mild and short lasting, though there has been discussion about including it in the general vaccination programme. Very rarely, chickenpox can have more serious consequences in children. It's generally available for healthcare workers or those in high risk groups.
It is part of the routine vaccination plan in for children in the USA and some other countries.
Although shingles is something that you are highly unlikely to catch from another person with shingles, you could catch chicken pox from them if you've not had it, or not been vaccinated.

I caused a minor outbreak of chicken pox amongst toddlers in South Birmingham when I had shingles.

TBH, the shingles wasn't anything like as bad as I was lead to believe it would be. Nothing more than a slightly annoying rash. This was the famous incident when the doctor told me to reduce my stress by considering the bus or train rather than cycling in to work. We compromised to a more gentle ride instead.

 

[Sharky]

I used to be terrified of needles.

But recently have had numerous blood tests, have had flu and COVID jabs for the last few years. Have had the two shingles jabs this year. And today an invitation to have this year's flu and COVID jabs and also booked for my next blood test next month.

My 20 year old me, would never imagine how calm the 74 year old me is!

 

[HeinrichManouvre]

FWIW I had chicken pox at primary school age and it was seriously grim. It's mild if you're a toddler.

I had chicken pox when I was 21. It was very unpleasant indeed.

I'd never had measles up to that point either, and had never had a measles vaccine. The chicken pox episode prompted me to go and get a measles vaccine. I also hadn't realized until recently that in fact you need two measles jabs for full protection, so off I went to get myself a top-up.

 

[HeinrichManouvre]

Whilst on the topic, I also got the two doses of the Shingrix vaccine recently. I wasn't eligible for the jabs on the NHS, so had to go private.

I'd heard that a common side-effect was feeling lousy the next day, but fortunately for me the only side-effect was a slightly sore upper arm for a couple of days, and a reduction in my bank balance of £440.

Well worth it, in my book.

 

[rogerzilla]

Shingrix sounds like the language used for AliExpress product listings.

 

[lazybloke]

The chicken pox episode prompted me to go and get a measles vaccine. I also hadn't realized until recently that in fact you need two measles jabs for full protection, so off I went to get myself a top-up.

The vaccination record in my NHS app goes all the way back to my birth year but it's missing at least one Tetanus jab and who knows what else.

No mention of any measles jabs, so i asked my GP and had MMR in my late 40s.

 

[Conrad_K]

A few years ago my doctor mentioned something about a cardiac consult he'd sent me to a few years before that. It was off-the-wall enough that I interrupted him to ask about it. He dug the report out - he had a paper copy - and passed it to me.

Almost everything other than my name was wrong; meds, medical history, symptoms... it looked like somehow my name had been put on someone else's report. I went over it with the doc, who said that unfortunately that wasn't all that rare nowadays.

After that I started getting my own copies of labs and patient reports when I see a consulting doctor. Most of the offices whine and want me to create an account on their "web portal", but I insist on paper. In the USA, a printed document and its postmarked envelope are legal evidence in court, and a "web portal" is nothing. I have never created an account or used a "web portal" anywhere, again for legal protection if it comes down to that. Back in the 1990s I wore the +10 Spiked Jackboots of Information Security at a sizeable hospital; it was a joke then, and much worse now.

I have copies of everything going back to 2010; I figured anything older than that probably wasn't worth much. Well, almost everything. It turns out some offices "retire" (delete) records after only five or six years, so I have some gaps here and there.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I had Chicken Pox in my 20s. It was pretty damn mild. You can't go by age as to how bad (or not) it will be.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I had Chicken Pox in my 20s. It was pretty damn mild. You can't go by age as to how bad (or not) it will be.

According to NHS:

Chickenpox tends to be more severe in adults than children. Adults have a higher risk of developing complications.
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/chickenpox/

I had it mid 20s and it was one of the worst illnesses I've ever had, on a par with proper flu.

 

[presta]

A few years ago my doctor mentioned something about a cardiac consult he'd sent me to a few years before that. It was off-the-wall enough that I interrupted him to ask about it. He dug the report out - he had a paper copy - and passed it to me.

Almost everything other than my name was wrong; meds, medical history, symptoms... it looked like somehow my name had been put on someone else's report. I went over it with the doc, who said that unfortunately that wasn't all that rare nowadays.

After that I started getting my own copies of labs and patient reports when I see a consulting doctor. Most of the offices whine and want me to create an account on their "web portal", but I insist on paper. In the USA, a printed document and its postmarked envelope are legal evidence in court, and a "web portal" is nothing. I have never created an account or used a "web portal" anywhere, again for legal protection if it comes down to that. Back in the 1990s I wore the +10 Spiked Jackboots of Information Security at a sizeable hospital; it was a joke then, and much worse now.

I have copies of everything going back to 2010; I figured anything older than that probably wasn't worth much. Well, almost everything. It turns out some offices "retire" (delete) records after only five or six years, so I have some gaps here and there.

Here in the UK, if they don't want you to have something, they just won't give you it. The "Major" condition they diagnosed 20 days after a brain scan two years ago, for example:

 

[Ming the Merciless]

According to NHS:

Chickenpox tends to be more severe in adults than children. Adults have a higher risk of developing complications.
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/chickenpox/

I had it mid 20s and it was one of the worst illnesses I've ever had, on a par with proper flu.

Saying the same thing. There will be a range of reactions at any age, and more likely to be more severe the older you are, but not guaranteed to be so. Being older doesn't guarantee it will be severe. Being younger doesn't guarantee it will be mild.

 

[Psamathe]

Re: Getting the Vaccination
I'd add "yes". I had shingles a couple of years ago and really not nice.

NHS are using a really weird way to decide who gets it. Available once you hit age 65 but I'm 68 and don't qualify as the 65 only applies if you reached age 65 on or after 1 September 2023 - so if older that 65 on 1 September 2023 you don't qualify until you reach age 70. But get to 80 and you'll no longer qualify.

And expensive to get it privately.

Ian