Shingles shot for people over 60

Wanted to share that today's Wall Street Journal had an article about the need for adults to get vaccinations. One interesting statistic was that only 1.9% of adults over 60 who had measles as a child have gotten the shingles vaccine. (My husband and I are part of that 1.9%.) If you want to read my rant against the U.S. medical establishment for its slowness in responding to medical realities, go to http://dogooderscrooge.blogspot.com/2008/07/whooping-cough-rise-in-us-and-other.html

Welcome to the site PZ and thanks for the info. I hope to see more of you here. Gone to read some of your blogs.

Hi, Phylllis, and welcome. I'm delighted to see you here.

My mother had shingles and it was terribly painful. I fear that I, too, may get that dreaded affliction. I didn't know insurance wouldn't cover the cost of immunization until I read your blog. I'll start saving for it now.

Yes, I'm over 60 and I'll ask my doc about it when I see him in 2 weeks.

I thought it was the chickenpox virus not measles that lay dormant and could reappear as shingles.
Have I been misinformed ?

I have had shingles .
Mountain ash

I thought it was also the chicken pox.

I had shingles when I was a teen. It was over spring break and I was miserable. We went camping and I slept sitting up. Get the vaccine.

Yes, it's chicken pox and not measles. I'm looking at The Wall Street Journal article now, which does say chicken pox, to figure out how I got measles from chicken pox (both are red spots, aren't they?).

And, FYI, in one case cited drug insurance did pay for most of the shingles shot. So check your own medical/drug insurance. A pharmacy across from my husband's office ordered the shot so at least we didn't have to pay for a doctor's visit.

I didn´t know there was a vaccine against shingles/chicken pox??? Is there??? Over here it´s the only children´s disease that we don´t have a vaccine for..otherwise we have one for measles, mumps and the one you shouldn´t get while your pregnant..slipped my mind at the moment..it´s name in English..in Swedish it´s called: "röda hund" which translates to "red dogs" ..he he!!

This vaccine is not getting the publicity in the U.S. it should. So it may be available in Sweden but just not getting any publicity.

Thanks PZ... I had no idea there was a vaccine, either. I've witnessed three people who had shingles. They were miserable and one was in so much pain. good information

I hope everyone who has learned about the shingles shot from this thread will tell several friends. It's so upsetting that there's this vaccine that could help so many people and those people don't know about it.

And if anyone has any pull with medical insurance companies -- tell them it's probably cheaper to pay for the vaccine for many than to pay for the shingles treatment of those who get it.

Humlan
rubella (also known as german measles)Girls get the vacine here in early teens.while at high school.Can cause deaf/blindness (Ushers syndrome)if caught during early pregancy
As for a shingles vachine what a good breakthrough.The only thing here is early antivial medication at the onset of shingles.
I was too late to get this.It was a dreadful illness and when I am low I see the trace of the rash pattern.Time then to rest for me.
People with low immunity and those on chemo are at risk when children have chickenpox so an immuniasation programme is a good idea.
Mountain ash

Welcome PZMiller, what great information. I had heard of this shot but not that it was available anywhere but in Europe... Something to consider seriously!

I just saw a listing for a reporter who wants to talk to caregivers of people with shingles -- she wants tips for helping the patients. I emailed her that I hope she's also going to mention that there's a vaccine now.

At this point the medical community believes one shot will be enough, although at a later date with more data available there may need to be a booster. (I'm hoping my insurance will pay for a booster by then -- or maybe I'll be old enough for Medicare by then.)

PZ, historically insurance companies haven't been interested in preventative care. They're just starting to figure out that it's cheaper. Medicare and Medicaid haven't gotten there yet. Forget about dental insurance.

I just sent an email to Dotsie suggesting that maybe she could put an announcement about the shot's availability on the home page of the site. So many people don't know about this and many of us fall into the age range to get the shot.

Plus, if more and more people start asking their doctors about the shot, maybe there will be public pressure for this shot to be covered by medical insurance. Right now so few people know about the shot -- did you see that Wall Street Journal figure that only 1.9% of the population over 60 has gotten the shot? -- that I'm sure there's no pressure being put on insurance companies to pay for it.

FYI -- I'm old enough to remember in the late '70s and early '80s when most infertility treatments were not covered by medical insurance. Then there was such a groundswell of public sentiment that insurance companies had to start covering infertility treatments.

We don't make those annoncements on our home page, however, if a member of the NABBW wanted to include it in their member news for the newsletters, we could post it there. Also, if a member wanted to write an informational article about the topic, we could post it on the NABBW site.

Dotsie, could the post I wrote for my own blog be put onto the NABBW site? The post includes info about the shingles shot as well as info about other shots that members should know about for themselves, their children and their grandchildren. Here's the link to the article http://dogooderscrooge.blogspot.com/2008/07/whooping-cough-rise-in-us-and-other.html

Please send it as a Word attechment to dots@nabbw.com.

Shingles Hurt! Been there done that - got to read PZ's blog and call my transplant team. I'd heard of this shot, but thought it to still be in development/testing stages? Yo, my deductable's met for the year already, so it would be a great time to go for it!