Vaccination protects against shingles

The outbreak of a shingles (herpes zoster) is often followed by persistent severe pain. This condition is called postherpetic neuralgia (postherpetic neuralgia).

The pain, which often lasts for years or decades, often causes Depression, weight loss and insomnia.

Shingles is a secondary disease of chickenpox

Shingles usually begins with pain, itching, or tingling in an area where the rash then develops within a few days. trigger for shingles  Chickenpox in childhood. The virus lies dormant in your nerve cells and can only cause years later when factors such as age, Disease or Stress cause the dormant virus to be reactivated and shingles to develop.

In shingles, the virus travels along nerve fibers that reach your skin. There, the virus eventually causes blisters and pain. Signs of rashes and blisters are usually found along the virus's path.

Most commonly, shingles appears as a band of rash and blisters around the torso - usually on one side of the body. However, it can also affect the face, arms and legs. This damages nerve fibers, causing the skin's messages to the brain to be disrupted. This creates the chronic pain of postherpetic neuralgia, which often lasts for years even though the rash and blisters caused by shingles have long since disappeared.

The signs and symptoms of postherpetic neuralgia usually occur in the same area as shingles. Some people describe the pain as burning, sharp, deep or excruciating. There is also hypersensitivity to light touch - even the contact of clothing on the affected skin can be felt to an extreme degree. Itching or a feeling of numbness may also occur.

There is no cure for postherpetic neuralgia, but there are treatment options to relieve these symptoms. Often, different therapies must be combined to relieve pain and discomfort

Prevention of shingles through vaccination

To avoid the long-lasting pain of postherpetic neuralgia, preventive measures should be taken against the development of shingles.

As soon as the first signs of shingles appear, a Doctor It is important to start antiviral treatment early. The risk of postherpetic neuralgia can be halved if appropriate medication is taken within 72 hours of the rash appearing.

There is now a vaccine against shingles called ShingrixThe vaccine not only reduces the risk of shingles outbreaks in older people by half, but also reduces the risk of postherpetic neuralgia by more than 90%.

Studies show that more than half of people over the age of 60 develop postherpetic neuralgia.  In the USA, the responsible health authorities (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) People over 60 years of age should be vaccinated, regardless of whether they have had shingles before or not.

The Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) of the Robert Koch Institute recommends vaccination against shingles for all persons aged 60 and over, as well as for patients with a weakened immune system due to chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Diabetes mellitus or chronic lung diseases.

Before vaccination against shingles, we recommend a complete health check.

Private health insurance companies have covered the costs of the shingles vaccination since the beginning of 2019. Since May 1, 2019, the vaccination has also been included in the list of services provided by statutory health insurance companies.

Current information from the Robert Koch Institute on shingles vaccination