• Healthy State
  • Careers
  • Education
  • Research
  • Giving
Ochsner Health Ochsner Health
  • About
  • Find A Doctor (current)
  • Find A Location
  • Specialties & Treatments
MyOchsner Logo
Login | Signup
Submit Search magnifying glass icon
Close Search X icon
  •   Home
  • In To Your Health...
  • Food & Fitness
  • Conditions & Treatment
  • Health Trends
  • Prevention & Wellness
  • Women's Health
  • Men's Health
  • Mental Health
  • Parenting
  • I need to...
  • Find A Doctor
  • Find A Location
  • Find A Specialty
  • Schedule An Appointment
  • Pay A Bill
  • Explore
  • About Ochsner
  • Careers
  • Patients & Visitors
  • "To Your Health" Blog
  • Health Resources
  • Medical Professionals
  • Education
  • Philanthropy
  • Community Outreach
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Research
  • Ochsner Health Network
  • Schedule an Appointment
  • Call: 1-866-624-7637
  • Online: Login to MyOchsner
  • Personalize your content
  • patient Edit Persona Persona Chooser
To Your Health

View Newsletter Editions
  • Food & Fitness
  • Conditions & Treatment
  • Health Trends
  • Prevention & Wellness
  • Women's Health
  • Men's Health
  • Mental Health
  • Parenting
Bandage

How To Protect Yourself From Shingles

Feb 3, 2021 |
By April D. Green, PharmD
Share Facebook Logo Twitter Logo Pinterest Logo Email Logo

Shingles is a fairly common, painful rash that adults may develop, but is it contagious?

While shingles itself cannot be spread from person to person, adults who have an infectious shingles rash may actually spread chickenpox to others. If someone has never had chickenpox and has not been vaccinated against it, they may contract the disease from an active shingles outbreak.

Shingles (herpes zoster) is caused by the same virus that typically gives us chickenpox (varicella) when we are children. Both illnesses come from the varicella-zoster virus, which can infect us as chickenpox and then lies dormant in our nerve tissue. Sometimes, the virus reawakens in adults and moves back toward the skin. When this happens, a painful rash may form.

About 1 in 3 adults will develop shingles at some point in their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly 1 million people will have a shingles outbreak per year in the United States. Shingles is characterized by a painful rash of blister-like sores, preceded by pain, itching or tingling in the skin. It may also be accompanied by symptoms like fever, chills, headache and upset stomach. The rash may develop on just one side of the body, near the torso or on the face. It often appears as a continuous stripe.

The pain from the rash can be moderate to intense depending on how sensitive the skin becomes. Long-term nerve pain may also develop, which is referred to medically as postherpetic neuralgia. This occurs in about 10%-18% of people who develop shingles, and the risk increases with age.

Is there anything we can do to prevent shingles?

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now recommends all healthy adults 50 years and older be vaccinated against shingles with Shingrix. Shingrix vaccination is a two-dose series separated by two to six months, administered intramuscularly in the upper arm. It provides strong protection against both shingles and postherpetic neuralgia, the painful complication described above. Studies have shown that Shingrix reduced the incidence of shingles by greater than 90% in all age groups.

Zostavax was previously the only shingles vaccination on the market but is no longer available as of Nov. 18, 2020. Anyone previously vaccinated with Zostavax should be revaccinated with Shingrix. You should also be vaccinated even if you have had shingles or chickenpox in the past to help prevent future occurrence of shingles.

Shingrix is not a live vaccine so fewer contraindications exist when compared to Zostavax. Shingrix is a recombinant vaccine that works by targeting a key component of the virus to produce a very strong immune response against shingles. Patients who are immunocompromised or receiving immunosuppressive therapy can be vaccinated for shingles prevention with Shingrix. Another advantage of the Shingrix vaccine is that unlike the Zostavax vaccine, it can be stored in the refrigerator before reconstitution.

Shingrix side effects include muscle pain (myalgia), fatigue, headache, shivering, fever and gastrointestinal symptoms in addition to soreness, pain or reactions to the local injection site where the shot is administered. The vaccine is not designed to prevent primary chickenpox (varicella) infection. Those who are allergic to the vaccine or any of its components should not receive Shingrix, as well as people who are pregnant, breastfeeding or currently have shingles.

If your blood test shows that you are negative for immunity to varicella-zoster virus (the virus that causes chickenpox), you should receive the chickenpox vaccine, not Shingrix.

Shingles vaccination is the only way to protect against shingles and complications like postherpetic neuralgia, the painful condition caused by shingles infection that affects the nerve fibers and skin. Anyone in need of a shingles vaccination should consult your local pharmacy or speak with your healthcare provider.

When was your last primary care exam? If it's been over a year, let's get your health back on track.


Tags
shingles
vaccines

You may also be interested in:

Older women shingles
Conditions & Treatment
April 19, 2022

Avoid Shingles Pain With This Vaccine

The Shingrix vaccine is recommended by healthcare providers for the prevention of shingles in adults aged 50 years and older.
By Addy Reine, MD
COVID 19 Vaccine
Conditions & Treatment
July 30, 2021

I Had COVID-19. Do I Still Need A Vaccine?

You may be wondering: Do I need to get the vaccine if I have already had COVID-19?
By Katherine Baumgarten, MD
Thinkstockphotos 178983178 Pills Falling Out Of Bottle Scaled
Prevention & Wellness
September 4, 2020

4 Tips for Caregivers Managing Medications

It can be tough wrangling your loved one's meds, but we can help with these easy tips.
By Raymunda Semana, Pharm.D.

email envelop icon Comments about the blog? Send us an email!

Ochsner Health

Schedule An Appointment: 1-866-624-7637

Follow us: Facebook Follow Ochsner Health on TikTok Twitter Follow Ochsner Health on Twitter LinkedIn Visit Ochsner Health's LinkedIn page Instagram Follow Ochsner Health on Instagram YouTube Subscribe to Ochsner Health on YouTube Pinterest Follow Ochsner Health on Pinterest TikTok Follow Ochsner Health on TikTok

Healthy living tips, delivered weekly to your inbox.

Sign Up

Patients & Visitors

  • Billing & Financial Services
  • Insurance Information
  • International Patients
  • Request Medical Records
  • Share Your Story
  • Read Patient Stories

Medical Professionals

  • Transfer a Patient
  • Refer a Patient

Health Resources

  • To Your Health Blog
  • Golden Opportunity
  • Healthy State
  • Ochsner Magazine

Job Seekers

  • Career Paths
  • Benefits
  • Open Positions

Employees

  • Webmail
  • OHSLink
  • Workday

Employers

  • Corporate Wellness
  • Medicare Advantage Plans

Community Outreach

  • Classes & Events
  • Programs
  • Community Health Needs Assessment
  • Dr. John Ochsner Discovery Health Sciences Academy

Education

  • Graduate Medical Education
  • Clinical Medical Education
  • Continuing Medical Education
  • Medical Library
  • Publishing Services
  • Medical Illustrations

Research

  • Clinical Trials
  • Applied Health Services Research
  • Clinical Research & Trials
  • Nursing Research
  • Translational Research

Giving

  • Donate
  • Volunteer

About Ochsner

  • Mission & Vision
  • History
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Annual Report
  • Outcomes & Honors
  • News & Media
  • Alumni
  • Ochsner Health Network
  • Contact Us

Shop

  • O Bar
  • Optical Shop
  • Ochsner Fitness Center
  • Brent House Hotel

© Ochsner Health  | Notice of Privacy Practices | Terms of Use | Vendor Information

Ochsner accepts all major insurances.

Ochsner is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, founded on providing the best patient care, research, and education.

We are one of the country’s largest non-university based academic medical centers.

Ochsner is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

Community Needs Health Assessment

EpicMobile Tablet | EpicMobile Phone

newsletter icon

Subscribe to Our Newsletters

newsletter icon

Select the newsletters you'd like to receive.

Please select at least one category to continue.

Curious about our newsletters?

View details for each edition
newsletter icon

Let us know where to send your newsletters.

To Your Health- Food and Fitness:
To Your Health- General:
To Your Health- Men’s Health:
To Your Health- Parenting:
To Your Health- Women’s Health:
To Your Health-Mental Health Monthly":
To Your Health- Skin Deep:

Source:
Source Description:
Marketing Goal:
newsletter icon

You're all set!

We’ll send newsletters full of healthy living tips right to your inbox.

Ochsner Health System
magnifying glass icon
ESC to Close

Begin Typing to Search

Select the drop-down to filter Search by Blog Articles or Sitewide