Shingles, and the vaccine most people don’t know they can have

Almost everyone born before the chickenpox vaccine became routine has had chickenpox, whether or not they remember it. After the rash clears, the virus does not leave. It retreats into nerve tissue and stays there, held in check by your immune system, sometimes for sixty or seventy years.

Shingles is what happens when it reactivates.

What shingles is like

It usually begins with pain, burning, tingling or itching in one area on one side of the body, often a band around the trunk, or on the face. The rash follows a few days later — blisters in that same band, on one side only, which crust over across a week or two.

The rash resolves. The problem is that in a proportion of people, particularly older people, the pain does not. Post-herpetic neuralgia is nerve pain that persists after the rash has gone, sometimes for months or years, and it can be genuinely debilitating. It is the main reason shingles is taken seriously rather than treated as a nuisance rash.

Shingles affecting the eye is a particular concern and needs urgent assessment, because it can threaten sight.

The vaccine, and who it is funded for

Shingles vaccination is available under the National Immunisation Program at no cost to several groups, including eligible older adults, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from a younger age, and people with certain conditions that weaken the immune system.

The current vaccine is given as two doses some months apart, and it is considerably more effective than the vaccine used previously — including in people in their seventies and eighties, where earlier vaccines performed less well.

Eligibility criteria and age thresholds are set nationally and are updated from time to time. Rather than reproduce a figure here that may change, ask your GP or reception, and we will check what applies to you specifically.

Common questions people raise

"I've already had shingles — is there any point?"

Yes. Having had shingles once does not protect you from having it again, and vaccination is still recommended. There is usually a period to wait after an episode, which your GP will advise on.

"I don't remember having chickenpox."

The great majority of Australian adults have had it, often as a mild illness in early childhood that nobody recorded. Vaccination is recommended regardless of whether you remember it.

"Will it make me feel unwell?"

A sore arm is common, and some people feel tired, achy or feverish for a day or two, more so after the second dose. It settles quickly. It is worth not scheduling the second dose the day before something you cannot miss.

Worth doing at the same time

If you are booking for shingles vaccination, it is a sensible moment to check what else you are due for — influenza each year, pneumococcal, and COVID-19 boosters. Your GP can look at your immunisation history and tell you what is outstanding.

If you are 75 or over, you are also entitled to an annual health assessment, which is bulk billed and covers considerably more ground than a standard appointment. A surprising number of eligible people have never been told it exists.