age for the shingles vaccine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The zoster vaccine (trade name Zostavax) is a live vaccine developed by Merck & Co. that has been shown to reduce the incidence of herpes zoster (known as shingles) by 51.3% in a study of 38,000 adults aged 60 and older who received the vaccine. The shingles vaccine is a more concentrated version of the chickenpox vaccine currently given to children. Both are live, weakened forms of chickenpox virus. The shingles vaccine contains about 14 times the amount of weakened chickenpox virus than the vaccine for children. Although you are less likely to get shingles if you have had them, there is still a chance that you could, so the shingles vaccine can still be of benefit. Up to 5 of every 100 people will get shingles more than once. The vaccine also reduced by 66.5% the number of cases of postherpetic neuralgia and reduced the severity and duration of pain and discomfort associated with shingles, by 61.1%. The zoster vaccine is, essentially, a larger-than-normal dose of the chickenpox vaccine (Varivax, Varilrix), as both shingles (prevented by Zostavax) and chickenpox (prevented by Varivax/Varilrix, even prevented by Zostavax as well) are caused by the same virus, the varicella zoster virus (VZV). From 2013 the UK National Health Service started offering shingles vaccination, with Zostavax, to older people. People aged either 70 or 79 on 1 September 2013 were offered the vaccine. People aged 71 to 78 on that date would only have an opportunity to have the shingles vaccine after reaching the age of 79. Before age 50, about two people in a thousand get shingles. After age 50, about six people in a thousand get shingles. A person's lifetime risk of shingles is about 30%. Even people who already have had shingles can get it again. Their risk of a second case is about the same as the risk of getting a first case. The biggest drawback to Zostavax is its cost. The catalog price is about $161.50, about 10 to 20 times the cost of flu vaccine. A Look at Each Vaccine: Shingles Vaccine. A shingles vaccine is available for adults 60 years of age and older in the United States. The vaccine prevents much of the pain and suffering caused by shingles when the virus that causes chickenpox reawakens in those with aging or compromised immune systems. Once you have had chickenpox, you can get shingles. People who are 60 years of age or older can decrease their chance of getting shingles by getting the shingles vaccine. March 24, 2011 - People age 50 and older can now get Merck's Zostavax shingles vaccine, the FDA today ruled. The vaccine already was approved for people age 60 and older. The approval is based on a Merck clinical trial that showed the vaccine to be about 70% effective in preventing shingles in the younger age group.
60 years of age and older.