Do you need the shingles vaccine if you've never had chicken pox?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes.
Both natural chicken pox infection and the varicella vaccine make you susceptible to shingles.

If she hasn’t had chicken pox, she can’t get shingles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mother said the shingles vaccine was the worst vaccine she’s ever received and she’s prior military with shots needed to deploy (anthrax and such). She is not getting the second dose. She’s a tough woman and she was unable to do anything for a few days.

I'm sorry to hear that. I had no notable reaction to either Shingrix shot and strongly recommend it, having had friends and families suffer through shingles.

[Anonymous]

I had a flu like reaction to The vaccine for about 24 hours. It wasn’t fun but it was far better than getting shingles. If you know you’re having a reaction to the vaccine there’s no reason to panic about thinking that it’s COVID.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the helpful responses. To be clear, I'm leaning toward getting it, just to cover the bases.

Still curious about whether it is unnecessary to get the shingles vaccine if you've never had chicken pox AND you've had the vaccine against chicken pox.

Maybe I'll circle back to my primary care doctor one more time.

[Anonymous]

CP vaccine is live virus. You still have VZ viola hanging in your cells. Probably will be milder shingles but still.

“ Conversely, the chicken-pox vaccine does seem to offer some protection against later occurrences of shingles. The weakened varicella zoster virus strain in vaccines also lurks dormant in neurons, but it does not reawaken so easily. Kids who got chicken-pox vaccines are less likely to later get shingles than kids who naturally caught chicken pox.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mother said the shingles vaccine was the worst vaccine she’s ever received and she’s prior military with shots needed to deploy (anthrax and such). She is not getting the second dose. She’s a tough woman and she was unable to do anything for a few days.

The second dose is easier than the first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother said the shingles vaccine was the worst vaccine she’s ever received and she’s prior military with shots needed to deploy (anthrax and such). She is not getting the second dose. She’s a tough woman and she was unable to do anything for a few days.

My mom had the old shingles shot(s) which were not as effective as Shingrex, and she ended up getting the shingles. It can damage your nerves and give you nerve pain. Her arm would be in terrible pain due to damaged nerves. Some people recover and some don't. I watched this and she was screaming in pain, and she's a tough woman.

Then, it ended up going to her brain and she almost died of encephilitis. There is a anti-viral for that, so she recovered.

Watching all that, I got the Shingrex shots when I turned 50, and my DH did the same. It was not that bad, IMO, so I guess people react differently. I want to encourage everyone to get this shot.

I also watched my grandmother go through the shingles. It was extremely painful and never completely went away--she continued to have a few sores on her face for the rest of her life. I'll take the vaccine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother said the shingles vaccine was the worst vaccine she’s ever received and she’s prior military with shots needed to deploy (anthrax and such). She is not getting the second dose. She’s a tough woman and she was unable to do anything for a few days.

My mom had the old shingles shot(s) which were not as effective as Shingrex, and she ended up getting the shingles. It can damage your nerves and give you nerve pain. Her arm would be in terrible pain due to damaged nerves. Some people recover and some don't. I watched this and she was screaming in pain, and she's a tough woman.

Then, it ended up going to her brain and she almost died of encephilitis. There is a anti-viral for that, so she recovered.

Watching all that, I got the Shingrex shots when I turned 50, and my DH did the same. It was not that bad, IMO, so I guess people react differently. I want to encourage everyone to get this shot.

I also watched my grandmother go through the shingles. It was extremely painful and never completely went away--she continued to have a few sores on her face for the rest of her life. I'll take the vaccine.

I knew somebody at work that was out for 4 or more months with the shingles. PP, encourage your mom to get the second dose. A few days vs. 4 months is pretty big.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mother said the shingles vaccine was the worst vaccine she’s ever received and she’s prior military with shots needed to deploy (anthrax and such). She is not getting the second dose. She’s a tough woman and she was unable to do anything for a few days.

My mom had the old shingles shot(s) which were not as effective as Shingrex, and she ended up getting the shingles. It can damage your nerves and give you nerve pain. Her arm would be in terrible pain due to damaged nerves. Some people recover and some don't. I watched this and she was screaming in pain, and she's a tough woman.

Then, it ended up going to her brain and she almost died of encephilitis. There is a anti-viral for that, so she recovered.

Watching all that, I got the Shingrex shots when I turned 50, and my DH did the same. It was not that bad, IMO, so I guess people react differently. I want to encourage everyone to get this shot.

I also watched my grandmother go through the shingles. It was extremely painful and never completely went away--she continued to have a few sores on her face for the rest of her life. I'll take the vaccine.

I knew somebody at work that was out for 4 or more months with the shingles. PP, encourage your mom to get the second dose. A few days vs. 4 months is pretty big.

Also the encephalitis, blindness, and ongoing post-shingles pain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the helpful responses. To be clear, I'm leaning toward getting it, just to cover the bases.

Still curious about whether it is unnecessary to get the shingles vaccine if you've never had chicken pox AND you've had the vaccine against chicken pox.

Maybe I'll circle back to my primary care doctor one more time.

Unfortunately this is no guarantee of anything. you can still catch both. My DS was vaccinated as an infant for chicken pox before we moved from the UK to the US. On a transatlantic flight when he was 6 and I was early 40s, I caught shingles and he caught a bad case of chicken pox (we assume from the same, infected person on the plane). We were told by the doctors treating us that it is very common in terms of my son catching it - that it was just a different strain that the original vaccine didn't cover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mother said the shingles vaccine was the worst vaccine she’s ever received and she’s prior military with shots needed to deploy (anthrax and such). She is not getting the second dose. She’s a tough woman and she was unable to do anything for a few days.

I was really sick after the first dose. I am about to get the second as I am traveling and will be overseas for months. A bit scared by your post! I am to get it tomorrow and travel on Tuesday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you've had shingles, do you still need the vaccine when you're older? I had it when I was 36 (so nearly 10 years ago), which I found so odd because I didn't think young people got it, but I had it after a miscarriage and my doctor thought it was brought on by stress. Truly awful. I'd get the vaccine in the heartbeat. Can't be worse than the virus itself.

If you've had shingles, you most definitely need the vaccine.

Just to add to the anecdata collection, I had shingrix with nothing beyond a sore arm.

When I had it (6 months after getting the old vaccine) I assumed it was a once and done thing, but the nurse told me she's had it 3 times (she was 50-ish), and I have met other people, several of them under 60 and one in her early 40s, who have had repeated episodes. The one in her 40s, last I heard, was still fighting to get shingrix, but she worked in my building and haven't seen her since March 2020.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the helpful responses. To be clear, I'm leaning toward getting it, just to cover the bases.

Still curious about whether it is unnecessary to get the shingles vaccine if you've never had chicken pox AND you've had the vaccine against chicken pox.

Maybe I'll circle back to my primary care doctor one more time.

Unfortunately this is no guarantee of anything. you can still catch both. My DS was vaccinated as an infant for chicken pox before we moved from the UK to the US. On a transatlantic flight when he was 6 and I was early 40s, I caught shingles and he caught a bad case of chicken pox (we assume from the same, infected person on the plane). We were told by the doctors treating us that it is very common in terms of my son catching it - that it was just a different strain that the original vaccine didn't cover.

According to medical experts, you cannot catch shingles from someone with chickenpox, but you CAN catch chickenpox from someone with shingles. This is according to the CDC. But the vaccine protects against all strains (and sounds like the same vaccine is used that was developed in the 70s), but is 82% effective and for some children antibodies do not persist well. It's more likely you got shingles and he got infected with chickenpox from you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the helpful responses. To be clear, I'm leaning toward getting it, just to cover the bases.

Still curious about whether it is unnecessary to get the shingles vaccine if you've never had chicken pox AND you've had the vaccine against chicken pox.

Maybe I'll circle back to my primary care doctor one more time.

Unfortunately this is no guarantee of anything. you can still catch both. My DS was vaccinated as an infant for chicken pox before we moved from the UK to the US. On a transatlantic flight when he was 6 and I was early 40s, I caught shingles and he caught a bad case of chicken pox (we assume from the same, infected person on the plane). We were told by the doctors treating us that it is very common in terms of my son catching it - that it was just a different strain that the original vaccine didn't cover.

If you do not know for sure if you've ever had chicken pox, you should get a vaccine for chicken pox (per National Foundation for Infectious Disease).

Chickenpox in adults can be dangerous. A 22 year old from my hometown died from it in the 80s. Adults who get chicken pox are at higher risk for complications.