Shingles is a painful skin rash, often with blisters, that is caused by the chickenpox virus, varicella zoster. The shingles rash usually appears on one side of the face or body and lasts from 2 to 4 weeks. The main symptom is pain, which can be severe. In about 1 in 5 patients, the severe pain can continue even after the rash has cleared, which is known as postherpetic neuralgia.

After a case of chickenpox, the varicella zoster virus remains dormant in a nerve tract. Years later it may become reactivated and travel along a nerve tract to the skin, where it causes the rash. It also causes pain along the nerve. This nerve pain may continue long after the rash has disappeared, for months and even years. The pain is described as sharp, burning, jabbing, deep, or aching. It is very sensitive to touch or temperature change. You can't get shingles from someone that has it, but someone that has not had chickenpox may get chickenpox from someone with shingles.

Shingles is much more likely in people over 50 years old than in younger people. It is also more likely in people whose immune systems have been weakened by disease such as cancer or by drugs such as steroids or chemotherapy. More than 1 million people per year develop shingles in the U.S.

A vaccine for shingles was licensed in 2006. It is indicated for adults 60 years old and older. A single dose of vaccine reduces the risk of shingles by about half. While only effective in reducing the risk of shingles to about half, the vaccine does significantly reduce the nerve pain experienced in and after an outbreak. The vaccine is an effective means of preventing severe cases of postherpetic neuralgia.

Some people should not get the vaccine. People who are allergic to gelatin or neomycin should not get the vaccine. Because the vaccine is a live virus vaccine, people with weakened immune systems from disease (such as HIV/AIDS), treatment with drugs that suppress the immune system (such as steroids, chemotherapy or radiation therapy) or with a history of cancer of the bone marrow or lymph system (such as leukemia or lymphoma) should not get the vaccine. Women should not be pregnant or become pregnant till at least 3 months after getting shingles vaccine. Minor illness such as a cold is not a reason not to get vaccinated but moderate or severe illness especially with fever over 101.3°F is a reason for people to wait to get vaccinated.

Shingles vaccine can possibly cause serious allergic reactions; however, this risk is extremely small. No serious problems have been identified with shingles vaccine. Mild problems such as redness, soreness, swelling, and itching at the injection site (about 1 in 3) and headache (about 1 in 70) have been described. Any unexpected side effect should be reported to the doctor and to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) at http://www.vaers.hhs.gov/ or 1-800-822-7967.

The Total Health and Wellness Center of Taos administers shingles vaccine. You do not need a doctor's prescription to receive the vaccine. Call (575) 737-5810 to schedule an appointment for shingles vaccine.

Reference: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shingles/shingles.htm, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/postherpetic-neuralgia/DS00277/DSECTION=symptoms, http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-shingles.pdf.

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