Shingles Vaccination Information
Why get immunised against shingles?
Why get immunised against shingles?
Shingles (also called herpes zoster) is the disease caused when the chickenpox virus reactivates.
Shingles can cause severe pain that can last for months.
Vaccination is a safe and effective way to protect you from serious disease caused by shingles.
By getting vaccinated against shingles, you can also help protect other people, especially people who are unable to be vaccinated.
The more people who are vaccinated in your community, the less likely the disease will spread.
Anyone aged 60 years and over who wants to protect themselves against shingles can talk to their doctor about getting immunised.
Shingles immunisation is recommended for:
• adults aged 60 years and over who have not previously received zoster vaccine
• adults aged 70 years to 79 years, for free under the National Immunisation Program (NIP)
• adults aged 50 or over who live in the same household as someone who has a weakened immune system.
All medicines and vaccines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they’re not.
For most people, the chance of having a serious side effect from a vaccine is much lower than the chance of serious harm if you caught the disease.
Talk to your doctor about possible side effects of shingles vaccines, or if you have possible side effects that worry you.
Common side effects of shingles vaccines include:
• pain, redness, swelling or itching where the needle went in
• headache
• tiredness
Serious reactions to immunisation are rare. With Zostavax® vaccination, very rarely a generalised chickenpox-like rash may occur around 2–4 weeks after vaccination.
This may be associated with fever and feeling unwell.
This rash may be a sign of a serious reaction to the virus in the vaccine.
Seek medical attention and inform of recent Zostavax vaccination if you experience this reaction.
MORE INFO https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/shingles-herpes-zoster
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