I've had shingles decades ago, no vaccine since. QUESTION:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve never had chicken pox or herpes and neither of your kids have had it, can you get shingles?

Well herpes is a different virus.

If you've never had chicken pox you can't get shingles which is a re-emergence of the latent virus.

You can get chicken pox if you have no immunity. You can always get your titres checked.

[Anonymous]

I got shingles in 2020 during Covid. My doctor said that I needed to get the vaccine even though I just had shingles (apparently you can get shingles more than once).

[Anonymous]

My DH has had shingles twice. Both were mild but you can certainly keep getting it.

[Anonymous]

Please go get the vaccine. It can prevent dementia. The shingles virus is associated with dementia and the vaccine can prevent that.

[Anonymous]

I have had shingles three times in the same place (I guess it is technically the same case spread out over 10 years) and have other auto immune issues.

My doctor had me get the vaccine. He said that it would prevent it appearing in another place but might not prevent the shingles in the same place? I have no idea but anything to prevent shingles was my reasoning because it sucks. I did get very sick from the vaccine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have had shingles three times in the same place (I guess it is technically the same case spread out over 10 years) and have other auto immune issues.

My doctor had me get the vaccine. He said that it would prevent it appearing in another place but might not prevent the shingles in the same place? I have no idea but anything to prevent shingles was my reasoning because it sucks. I did get very sick from the vaccine

Yeah, this is what no one is sure about with the vaccine- will it prevent an old infection or just new ones?
And, will the vaccine ignite an older infection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have had shingles three times in the same place (I guess it is technically the same case spread out over 10 years) and have other auto immune issues.

My doctor had me get the vaccine. He said that it would prevent it appearing in another place but might not prevent the shingles in the same place? I have no idea but anything to prevent shingles was my reasoning because it sucks. I did get very sick from the vaccine

Yeah, this is what no one is sure about with the vaccine- will it prevent an old infection or just new ones?
And, will the vaccine ignite an older infection.

Do you have a reference for that? I'm not seeing a controversy.

Harvard Health:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/vaccination-still-recommended-after-a-shingles-infection

Vaccination still recommended after a shingles infection

The CDC recommends people ages 50 and older get the Shingrix vaccine to protect against shingles. But suppose you haven’t been vaccinated and you get shingles for the first time. In that case, you should still receive the shot to reduce your risk of future attacks, says a study published Sept. 1, 2021, in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/shingles/vaccines/index.html

If you had shingles in the past, Shingrix can help prevent future occurrences of the disease. There is no specific length of time that you need to wait after having shingles before you can receive Shingrix. Generally, make sure the shingles rash has gone away before getting vaccinated.

[Anonymous]

PP here (working in academia on infectious diseases) - a few things:

1) the question about getting a second dose after four years elapsing since the first dose is a really good one and I imagine quite common. It looks like we do not yet have a published real-world effectiveness study on dose durability that covers your situation specifically (I'm only seeing shorter follow-up windows) partly because it is a "newer" vaccine, but based on the shorter-term effectiveness evidence on two doses being better, I'd trust the CDC's prior recommendation that you should still get a follow-up dose as soon as possible, especially if you tolerated the first well (ask your PCP though, of course!)

2) "Herpes" as people commonly refer to it is indeed a different condition; however, the virus that causes shingles and chickenpox (varicella zoster) is in the family of herpesviruses. This why shingles behaves similarly to other herpesviruses, like those that cause cold sores: you could always have a flare-up once initially infected, but there are things you can do do mitigate those flare-ups. I really wish we had different terminology for herpesviruses because it is indeed confusing. FYI Epstein-Barr is also a herpesvirus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpesviridae#Human_herpesvirus_types

3) If you have *ever* had chickenpox or shingles, you are already infected and will always be at some risk for shingles because the virus stays in the body after initial infection and camps out dormant near your nerve endings. This is also why shingles is so very painful, because it targets nerve endings specifically. The vaccine boosts your immune system's defenses against flare-ups of the dormant virus.

This is a really good summary:
https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/prevention-wellness/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-shingles-virus