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In reply to the discussion: Public DU Service announcement to older DUers - get your damn Shingles vaccinations!!! [View all]SheilaT
(23,156 posts)Last edited Wed Apr 30, 2014, 02:19 PM - Edit history (1)
that said now that most kids get the chicken pox vaccine, adults who had chicken pox are going to be more and more likely to get shingles.
If I recall correctly, in the old days of no vaccine, when there were always kids out there with the disease, that constant re-exposure to the virus apparently reminded the immune system to do its job correctly, protect from chicken pox, and not do anything else. But now, when very few children get it, that lingering virus after a while gets bored and decides to deliver a nice case of shingles.
I know that's not completely scientifically accurate, but I think it cover it.
I had chicken pox. I'm 65 and I got the shingles vaccine a few months ago. I had no co-pay whatsoever. I think perhaps some of the provisions of the ACA are that there's no co-pay for shingles vaccine at least for older adults. If you're over 60, you don't even need a note from the doctor. Just go to the pharmacy and get it.
I think it's different for young people, meaning under age 50 or 60. Not long ago I was talking to a woman under 40 who has gotten shingles several times, and for some reason, she said, they won't give her the vaccine. Which doesn't make sense to me.
My younger son got a case of shingles a few years ago when he was 21. At first his doctor did not correctly diagnose it, because he was so young that it just seemed entirely too unlikely. Fortunately, he hasn't gotten it since.