Does getting the shingles vaccine mean you don't have to worry about getting the disease? Who needs the vaccine?

Many friends have asked Huazi, saying that now there is a shingles vaccine, who should get the vaccination, and whether they will not be afraid of shingles after getting the injection?

Hua Zi said that "snake around the waist" is another name for herpes zoster. Its harm is not the legendary death caused by a snake around the waist, but the damage to the nerves. If not treated in time, it may cause neuralgia, acupuncture, knife cutting, burning, ants crawling and other pain symptoms, and it is difficult to cure. It is more common in the middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old.

1. Varicella-Zoster Virus

Many people have had chickenpox. The typical symptoms are high fever and small blisters on the skin. If the blisters are accidentally broken, they are prone to infection and may leave pit-like skin lesions. It often occurs in childhood, and is less common in adults. However, the symptoms are more severe than in children, but usually not life-threatening.

Shingles and chickenpox are actually the same virus. After chickenpox is cured, there is a high probability that it will lurk in nerve cells and will develop into shingles when the body's immunity is weakened. Relevant research shows that more than 90% of people carry the varicella-zoster virus, but not everyone will develop the disease.

2. Neuralgia is the main injury

When a person carrying the virus is overworked, diets too much, has an irregular schedule, or suffers from a disease such as a tumor, their immunity will be weakened, which may lead to an outbreak of shingles.

Varicella-shingles lurk in the human nervous system, and herpes will appear along the nerves when the disease occurs. The human trunk nerves are mainly distributed along the ribs, so there is a saying of "snake around the waist". However, herpes usually only occurs on one side, rarely on both sides at the same time.

However, even if it occurs on both sides at the same time, it will not cause death because the herpes wraps around the waist. As long as it is treated in time, it can be cured. However, if it is not treated in time, there is a small possibility of causing viral meningitis or aggravating other underlying diseases and causing death.

If herpes zoster is not treated in time, it will damage the nerves and cause nerve pain. The human body's nerve damage is very slow to repair, which will cause patients to suffer from pain for a long time. There is currently no particularly effective pain relief method for neuralgia. Some patients will suffer from depression due to long-term neuralgia, which eventually leads to suicide.

3. Shingles can be treated and prevented

Shingles is not a difficult disease to treat. As long as the diagnosis is correct and antiviral drugs are used in a timely, adequate and long-term manner, it can be cured in about 10 to 15 days. People who have had shingles will have a certain immunity to the virus, and the chance of developing the disease will be greatly reduced. However, this immunity is not lifelong, and a very small number of people will have repeated attacks of shingles.

The shingles vaccine was approved for use in China in May 2019. According to its clinical research data, the prevention of shingles can reach more than 90%, and after vaccination, even if the disease occurs, the proportion of neuralgia sequelae will be significantly reduced. However, the preventive effect will weaken over time, and the effect will be significantly reduced after 8 years of vaccination.

The immune system activity of the middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old is reduced, and they are more likely to suffer from herpes zoster. If neuralgia is left, it will affect eating, sleeping, work, life and other aspects, seriously reducing the quality of life. Therefore, at present, people over 50 years old benefit the most from vaccination.

Vaccination is expensive now, with two shots costing more than 3,200 yuan, and the problem may not be solved once and for all after the shot. So for a disease that is only "likely" to happen and can be completely cured after it occurs, people are not very willing to pay for the vaccination themselves.

In summary, people over 50 years old are more susceptible to shingles when their immunity is weakened. If not treated in time, neuralgia may remain, which seriously reduces the quality of life. If economic conditions permit, you can also consider getting a shingles vaccine, which can significantly reduce the incidence and probability of neuralgia. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.