THE SHINGLES VACCINE: People 70yrs & Over
Shingles is a condition that is caused when the chickenpox virus reactivates in your body. It can cause severe pain and the pain can last for many months. During an attack of shingles, you can also give chickenpox to people who are not immune to it. An attack of shingles becomes more common as you get older. In Australia, about 1 in 3 people will get an attack of shingles at least once in their lifetime and each year, 20,000 adults aged between 70-79 years will get an attack.
There are now two vaccines available to reduce the risk of getting an attack of shingles. One of them, called Zostavax, is funded by the government for people aged between 70-79 years. Zostavax will reduce the risk of your getting an attack of shingles by 51% and if you do get an attack of shingles, the risk of getting prolonged pain from the attack by 67%.
We can give the Zostavax vaccine to you at this practice. The vaccine is a single injection into your arm muscle. Apart from the usual reactions that people get to vaccines like some pain and redness in your arm after the injection, other side effects from the vaccine are very uncommon.
If you are still uncertain as to whether to get the Zostavax vaccine, please talk to your GP. Importantly, there are some people for whom the vaccine is not recommended so we need to do an assessment before you have the vaccine to see if you can have it. If you are not aged 70-79 years and would still like to have the vaccine, please speak to your GP about it. There is also another shingles vaccine which is more effective but is not funded by the government called Shingrix. If you want to consider having Shingrix instead, please talk to your GP about it.
PEOPLE BETWEEN 60-69 YEARS
Shingles is a condition that is caused when the chickenpox virus reactivates in your body. It can cause severe pain and the pain can last for many months. During an attack of shingles, you can also give chickenpox to people who are not immune to it. An attack of shingles becomes more common as you get older or if you have a condition that weakens your immune system. In Australia, about 1 in 3 people will get an attack of shingles at least once in their lifetime.
There are now two vaccines available to reduce the risk of getting an attack of shingles. One of them is called Zostavax. Zostavax is a single injection under your skin. Zostavax will reduce the risk of your getting an attack of shingles by 64% and if you do get an attack of shingles, the risk of getting prolonged pain from the attack by 67%. The other shingles vaccine is called Shingrix and for this vaccine, you require two doses given into your arm muscle spaced 2-6 months apart. Shingrix was more than 95% effective in preventing attacks of shingles and 91% effective at preventing prolonged pain after an attack of shingles. However, there is a difference in price between the two products. You can also have Shingrix if you’ve had Zostavax in the past. Getting a shingles vaccine is recommended in the Australian Immunisation Handbook for everyone over 60 years.
If you are uncertain as to whether to get a shingles vaccine, please talk to your GP. Importantly, there are some people for whom the vaccine is not recommended so we need to do an assessment before you have the vaccine to see if you can have it. Also, with Zostavax, the level of protection you get from the vaccine will decrease over time so that may be another issue to discuss with your GP. With Shingrix, the level of protection remains high for at least 4 years after getting the vaccine.
