Why should older people get the shingles vaccine?
With age, your immunity decreases and makes your body prone to multiple infections.
Shingles is a painful infection that is challenging to diagnose and can cause excruciating pain. It occurs frequently and often comes with serious complications that are difficult to manage.
The best way to avoid contracting shingles is to get vaccinated against it.
How much does a shingles jab cost?
As people age, they are more likely to contract shingles and experience severe symptoms if they do.
Moreover, you are more likely to develop shingles if you have ever had chickenpox.
The shingles vaccine cost at Cyncoed Pharmacy is £165
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Shingles is a painful, itchy, burning blistering of the skin which affects an area on one side of the body; most commonly the chest but sometimes the head, chest or eye.
Shingles is the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, the cause of chickenpox.
It can last up to four weeks and one in five people go on to develop nerve pain called post herpetic neuralgia in the affected area of skin. Whilst it is not possible to catch shingles from someone with shingles or chickenpox, it is possible to catch chickenpox from someone with shingles, if you have not had it before. Also shingles can occur more than once in your lifetime. It is a common misconception that if you have had chickenpox you are immune to the virus for life, but it actually lies dormant in the nervous system and can reactivate when the immune system is weakened.
As people age their immune system naturally weakens, which is why people aged 70 and older are more likely to get shingles. Over 70’s are also more likely to suffer from shingles for longer; it is often more painful (so much so that just clothes brushing against the affected area can cause terrible pain) and can be fatal in one in 1000 cases.
There is no cure for shingles, but there is a vaccine that can help prevent people from developing shingles in old age. Almost everybody gets chickenpox, so there is a strong chance of many people developing shingles in old age. Having a simple, quick one off vaccination is a good way to help protect yourself and help prevent the unpleasantness of shingles.
Over 70’s are also more likely to suffer from shingles for longer; it is often more painful (so much so that just clothes brushing against the affected area can cause terrible pain) and can be fatal in one in 1000 cases.
The shingles vaccine is free on the NHS to all people aged 70.
Unlike the flu vaccine,, you only need the shingles vaccine once and it is available at any time of the year. Once vaccinated you will be protected for at least five years; although it may still be possible to get shingles, it will be less severe and short lived if you have had the shingles vaccination.
If you are aged 70 or over, either speak to your GP to arrange a vaccination.
Cyncoed Pharmacy also offer this vaccine as a private services and is recommended for anyone over 50 years of age, or vulnerable.
