Q&A: Preventing shingles?

A friend recently had a painful outbreak of shingles. How can I avoid that condition? —F.J.S., Franklin, N.C.

If you’re age 60 or older, you can get the shingles vaccine. About one in four adults who’ve had chicken pox will eventually experience shingles, a painful, blistering rash that occurs when the herpes zoster virus—which lies dormant in the body after a case of the pox—is reactivated by weakened immunity from age, disease, or another factor. The vaccine cuts your risk of a first outbreak in half, and reduces discomfort by about two-thirds in the event you do get shingles. (The odds of a second outbreak are much smaller, only about 1 in 20.) Your doctor should be able to provide the shot, which costs about $150 and is partly covered by most forms of insurance.

Read more about the shingles vaccine and find out which 10 vaccines you should not skip. 

Comments

[Lisa]

Hi, I came down with the chicken pox in the second grade after being in the hospital having my appendix out. Since then I have gotten repeated cold sores and fever blisters around my mouth. As a freshman in high school I had one cold sore at the corner of my mouth and then when I woke up one morning it had spread blisters all over one side of my face. Was this a shingles outbreak? I continue to get cold sores or fever blisters all the time, when I am feeling stressed or during my menstrual cycle. I never go anywhere with out my tube of medicated blistex. Its the only thing that will stop the cold sore on the spot when I feel a spot starting to itch and burn. Will I be at risk for shingles when I am older? I am 35 now.

[W. Pattison]

And what if you are under 60? I have a friend that has shingles and he's 32. Any advice for that age group?