04-11-2009, 07:59 AM
Apparently, the vaccine is identical to the children's chickenpox vaccine (live virus) in a much larger dose. As a result, the vaccination is pretty expensive.
The reason why it's not recommended for people under 60 is that only 10% of all shingles cases occur in people under 60 so they never tested it on people under 60. (The test subjects were also almost exclusively white. Read into that what you will, but that actually does pose a risk to people of different ethnic backgrounds since vaccine-effectiveness varies among ethnic populations.)
It should also be mentioned that only about 50% of the people who get the vaccine get any relief from shingles and it can kill you if you're immune-compromised (due to cancer-treatments, AIDS, etc.) so there's risks.
Recipients of the vaccine were only followed for 4 years so we don't know whether even that 50% number is accurate over the long term and whether boosters will be necessary.
IMHO (I am NOT a medical doctor), it's worth a shot if you're otherwise healthy and suffer from shingles. Otherwise, 'might be worth waiting until there's further testing or until symptoms show up. It's no less effective after an outbreak.
The reason why it's not recommended for people under 60 is that only 10% of all shingles cases occur in people under 60 so they never tested it on people under 60. (The test subjects were also almost exclusively white. Read into that what you will, but that actually does pose a risk to people of different ethnic backgrounds since vaccine-effectiveness varies among ethnic populations.)
It should also be mentioned that only about 50% of the people who get the vaccine get any relief from shingles and it can kill you if you're immune-compromised (due to cancer-treatments, AIDS, etc.) so there's risks.
Recipients of the vaccine were only followed for 4 years so we don't know whether even that 50% number is accurate over the long term and whether boosters will be necessary.
IMHO (I am NOT a medical doctor), it's worth a shot if you're otherwise healthy and suffer from shingles. Otherwise, 'might be worth waiting until there's further testing or until symptoms show up. It's no less effective after an outbreak.