Covid & Shingles is there a link?

Some light reading. Thinking that this may be under reported. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34719084/

Conclusion: We could not establish definite link but there may be possible association between COVID-19 vaccine and shingles. Large-scale studies may help to understand the cause-effect relationship.

Nothing about the Covid vaccine affecting immunity to the chicken pox virus.

I'm not old enough to get the shingles vac through the NHS, although my husband is and will be, next week.

Strictly speaking the covid v. Doesn't work in the same way as tradition vaccines.

Some of the 54 cases also had known risk factors for herpes zoster (shingles), a very small trial with no conclusive outcome.

A friend of the family who has always been very active and fit came down with shingles recently, never having had it before. I believe there has been an increase in cases - and there have been adverts on the TV suggesting that people get vaccinated for shingles.

I believe there is a link between the vaccine and shingles, and possibly other conditions too.

You can't get Shingles without first having chickenpox, and recovering from it. The virus stays in your system but can be stirred up again by stress (which is why people sometimes develop it after suffering from other illnesses or accidents) . Some people are stressed by getting the Covid vaccine, and their system reacts by reactivating the shingles.

That is the connection when it happens, which is not all that often. It is not any special feature of the Covid vaccine.

Before I was eligible for having the shingle vaccine I ate my doctor how I could protect myself from it. She said just get out and about and expose yourself to viruses. This was years ago and, of course, what has happened during covid is that many of us haven’t been exposed to viruses. Both my mum and my friend were suffering from a lot of stress prior to coming down with it. I feel awful about m mum because it was man years ago and I didn’t realise how poorly she must have been.

I know that some people think I’m argumentative and try to pick holes in other people arguments, but this is important.

There is no evidence that the COVID vaccine causes shingles, much less that the COVID vaccine reduces your immunity to the Chicken Pox virus. If this kind of misinformation becomes widespread it could impact on people’s decision to have the COVID vaccine, and right now, COVID is still our major problem.

The incidence of shingles has gone up but the proportion of older people who have taken the Shingles Vaccine has gone down from something like 70% to something like 30%. That’s more likely to cause an increase in the number of cases than any link with the COVID vaccine, although Elegran’s explanation about stress looks plausible too.

MY DH got shingles although he was fit and healthy too; he’d never had it before, that’s not unusual. He hot footed it to the GP who told him not to take any medication except paracetamol if he needed it. Not everyone who gets shingles gets anti-virals prescribed and its irresponsible to tell people on a social media site they should get them, because we know nothing about each others’ health status or circumstances.

“I believe” isn’t adequate when it comes to health; it has to be based on fact, not belief.

The Covid vaccine (plus worrying about it and about Covid) is just one of the stresses that affect people at the moment. When you think of the many stressful things that are going around us, between that and the drop in the take-up in shingles vaccine, it is a wonder we aren't ALL suffering from shingles.

volver

^Conclusion: We could not establish definite link but there may be possible association between COVID-19 vaccine and shingles. Large-scale studies may help to understand the cause-effect relationship.^

Nothing about the Covid vaccine affecting immunity to the chicken pox virus.

The quote is saying that there may be an association with between the Covid vaccine and shingles. More research needed. That seems pretty clear there is a possible link. I started the thread by asking other people's experiences. If there's a link it's quite rare but it's worth knowing.

There is a vaccine against chickenpox that can be given to children, but it's not part of normal vaccination schedule in UK, though it is in some countries. One of the reasons given for not including it (apart from cost) is that if adults are exposed to chickenpox it boosts their immunity and may make them less likely to develop shingles.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccine-questions-answers/

I'm not sure that's a good enough reason not to give children a vaccine against a nasty disease that can occasionally cause serious illness or even kill. My grandchildren have been vaccinated against chickenpox which should also prevent them getting shingles in later life.

I think it’s irresponsible to make light of something that, when I worked for the NHS, we took very seriously. And, no matter how much I advise someone to take anti virals it still needs a doctor to prescribe them. And they have to be taken asap. Delay a trip to the doctors and it may be too late because they say shingles is nothing to worry about. Covid is so new that no one knows how it’s affecting peoples immune systems or how it interacts with other medical conditions. I’ve spoken to several people over the years who say they’ve never known anything like the pain they had from shingles.

MayBee70

I think it’s irresponsible to make light of something that, when I worked for the NHS, we took very seriously. And, no matter how much I advise someone to take anti virals it still needs a doctor to prescribe them. And they have to be taken asap. Delay a trip to the doctors and it may be too late because they say shingles is nothing to worry about. Covid is so new that no one knows how it’s affecting peoples immune systems or how it interacts with other medical conditions. I’ve spoken to several people over the years who say they’ve never known anything like the pain they had from shingles.

I have made light of absolutely nothing MayBee70. Perhaps if you read my comments again you will see that.

When someone tells us about their background working in the NHS and says that anybody who thinks they have shingles should get themselves a particular medication, without knowing anything about any of us, that's irresponsible. I imagine the doctors with whom you worked had had their fill of people turning up expecting some medication they'd read about or been recommended on the internet.

Who has been talking about delaying trips to the doctors? Nobody. So please don't try to associate me with anything like that because it's not true.

I apologise. I thought it was you that said your husband had it,took nothing and was absolutely fine. I’ll have to re read the thread( I’m flitting about a bit today).

MayBee70

I apologise. I thought it was you that said your husband had it,took nothing and was absolutely fine. I’ll have to re read the thread( I’m flitting about a bit today).

Thank you MayBee70.

I did say that because that is what his GP (and some other medical person on 111) told him to do. He had rung them as soon as he saw he had a rash and had a face-to-face appointment on the same day.

So what are you advising? My advice is get a GP appointment as soon as you think you may have shingles. Don’t get fobbed off. And if they prescribe an ani viral get the prescription asap and start taking it immediately.

I'm not advising anything, other than that people should rely on fact rather than hearsay. I'm telling you that my DH contacted the NHS the day he thought he was ill and they gave him a face-to-face appointment that very day. He wasn't prescribed an anti-viral. He wasn't prescribed anything. If he had been, I'd have run down to the pharmacy and got him some.

I'm not a medical person, but I can see that the advice that everyone who thinks they have shingles should get themselves on aciclovir is wrong.

Farmor15

You only get shingles if you've previously had chickenpox. Virus lies dormant for years but can be reactivated by eg stress. Getting Covid, or even a vaccine is a type of stress to the body so in some people could be a trigger for shingles.

No direct connection and certainly not a reason to avoid being vaccinated against Covid. However, if shingles vaccine is offered- take it!

You only get shingles if you've previously had chickenpox. Virus lies dormant for years but can be reactivated by eg stress. Getting Covid, or even a vaccine is a type of stress to the body so in some people could be a trigger for shingles

I was going to post that, thank you Farmor

If your immune system is fighting another virus, reacting to a vaccine or is stressed for any reason, then this could cause the chickenpox virus to be reactivated.

Shingles isn't always easy to diagnose at first. DH spent a night in hospital once with a suspected heart attack, the doctors had no idea what was wrong, results were clear and he was sent home. The next day the first spots appeared which I recognised as shingles.

It's very unpleasant and not everyone can have the vaccine as it's live. The non-live vaccine doesn't seem to be widely available.

MayBee70

So what are you advising? My advice is get a GP appointment as soon as you think you may have shingles. Don’t get fobbed off. And if they prescribe an ani viral get the prescription asap and start taking it immediately.

I agree.
Shingles can appear anywhere, even in the eye.

The after-effects ie neuralgia, can be debilitating in some people and could last for months but probably goes in a few weeks in most cases.

Elegran

You can't get Shingles without first having chickenpox, and recovering from it. The virus stays in your system but can be stirred up again by stress (which is why people sometimes develop it after suffering from other illnesses or accidents) . Some people are stressed by getting the Covid vaccine, and their system reacts by reactivating the shingles.

That is the connection when it happens, which is not all that often. It is not any special feature of the Covid vaccine.

Yes, Elegran explains it well.

I'm surprised that GPs in cases mentioned here did not prescribe antivirals. The evidence is that they may lessen symptoms and shorten length of infection, but only work if treatment started early.

My son developed shingles and it affected his eye - had to go to eye clinic a few times and was given acyclovir drops.

I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone to take antivirals except on doc's advice, however, if diagnosed with shingles I would ask if taking antivirals might be of some benefit, if they hadn't suggested. Taking antibiotics unnecessarily is a bad idea but antivirals are different.

You can only get anti virals via a doctors prescription. Which is why I’m saying see a doctor asap (don’t get fobbed off: the receptionist might not realise that time is of the essence) and be prepared to go to a pharmacy if your practice doesn’t stock them. And don’t put if off till the next day. If prescribed start taking them asap. Especially if the shingles is on your face.

Volver, did the doc say why he wouldn't prescribe anti-viral medication for your husband.

Probably because the shingles was too far on welbeck. But that's not because we ignored it, it was because he wasn't feeling ill and there was no rash until the day he called 111.