the good doctor on: Vaccines, Vaccines, Vaccines

Blog #44 Vaccines, Vaccines, Vaccines

On two previous occasions I have discussed vaccines. As Freddie Mercury so aptly put it, “Give it to me one more time”.

The rollout of vaccines for Covid has been fraught with delays and political issues. In spite of this, we are making progress. Patience, our turns will come; definitely, a light at the end of the tunnel.

I want to look at the shingles vaccine again, particularly, the Shingrix vaccine, which the government is providing for free for 65-70 year olds. This past week I was reminded of the necessity for this preventive measure. A long-time patient of mine recently got shingles, and it has affected the trigeminal nerve on the side of her face and head. We were able to control the infection on the left eye, and it is quiet now, but the lasting neuralgia is driving her crazy, it is so painful. No vaccine is 100% effective, but this could likely have been prevented.

Almost all of us have the Herpes Zoster virus (fancy name for chicken pox) in our systems. Back in the day, rumour has it that parents had `chicken pox parties` to make sure that their children got the disease while young, since getting the Zoster virus when older is much more unpleasant and more risky. Basically everyone had chicken pox at some point. Problem is, all Herpes viruses infect the body, then camp out in the dorsal ganglia, and attack at a later stage in life when we are compromised.

The Herpes virus never leaves your body. Shingles is the same chicken pox virus acting up after years (and years), and unfortunately it does seem to act up when we are stressed already. The acute rash and pain lasts for 3-5 weeks with residual pain for up to three months. Permanent nerve damage will happen in up to 50% of people 60+, if untreated, and in 10-13% of younger adults.

So have your children inoculated for chicken pox. And if you are an adult, get Zostavax or the Shingrix vaccine for shingles.

There is not conclusive evidence about whether people who had the chicken pox vaccine are at risk for shingles. As the people with the vaccine get older, this will become more clear. Consult your doctor about what is best for you.

Please do consider an ounce of prevention for a possibly debilitating condition.

Til next week,

the good doctor, Dr. Mark Germain, Burlington Optometrist