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Old 06-28-2011, 11:47 AM  
mohel
 
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Shingles vaccine

I noticed my pharmacy was offering Shingle vaccine and thought I should mention it's value.

So help spread the word. Shingles is a mean disease, and the older the victim, the meaner it gets.

Shingles is a painful localized skin rash often with blisters that is caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. Anyone who has had chickenpox can develop shingles because VZV remains in the nerve cells of the body after the chickenpox infection clears and VZV can reappear years later causing shingles. Shingles most commonly occurs in people 50 years old or older, people who have medical conditions that keep the immune system from working properly, or people who receive immunosuppressive drugs.

Shingles vaccine is recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to reduce the risk of shingles and its associated pain in people 60 years old or older.

Vaccines: VPD-VAC/Shingles/main page

About 25 years ago I got shingles from too much booze, overtime and night life. It too three doctors to get it correctly diagnosed. Only when it neared my right eye and I sought help from my eye doctor was it recognized as shingles. He'd seen a lot of it in Bowery bums that came to Wills Eye Hospital in Philly.

After you have chickenpox the Herpes virus (one of several dozen) stores itself in the base of the jaw waiting for us to get worn out by age or life. Mine ate my 5th cranial nerve from the part in my hairline and across my upper cheek to the corner of my eye. As the virus consumes the nerve you get painful oozing volcanos to mark it's progress. No meds help.


Few Takers for the Shingles Vaccine
January 12, 2011, 8:38 AM

By PAULA SPAN
The good news about the shingles vaccine, recommended for all adults age 60 or older with normal immune systems, is that it works even better than scientists first thought.

A study published on Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the rate of shingles was 55 percent lower in the 75,761 people age 60 or older who received the vaccine, compared with those who did not.

Formally known as herpes zoster, shingles occurs when the varicella zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox and can lay dormant in nerve cells for decades, reactivates to cause a painful skin rash. In some, the intense pain can persist for months after the rash clears, a complication called postherpetic neuralgia.

About 30 percent of Americans develop shingles at some point, a Mayo Clinic team reported in 2007; the researchers also found that postherpetic neuralgia occurs in 18 percent of shingles patients, but in a third of those 79 or older.

Medical researchers can?t explain why some people with latent varicella infections develop shingles and others never do. But the new vaccine certainly seems to better the odds of dodging this scourge.

Data published in 2005, which led to the vaccine?s approval by the Food and Drug Administration, found its effectiveness lessened in those over 80. (Octogenarians were advised to get the shot anyway.) In the new study, however, the shingles vaccine was shown to reduce the risk of outbreaks in all age cohorts and races, and among those with chronic diseases.

?This vaccine has the potential to annually prevent tens of thousands of cases? of shingles, the authors wrote.


So what?s the bad news? Only a sliver of the senior population at risk for shingles is getting vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published the data on vaccination coverage among older adults in 2009. Nearly two-thirds of those over 65 got flu vaccines that year, the agency found, and more than 60 percent were vaccinated against pneumonia.

But just 10 percent received the shingles vaccine. ?Bottom line, 10 percent is a pretty poor number,? Dr. Rafael Harpaz, an epidemiologist at the C.D.C. and co-author of Tuesday?s report, said in an interview.

Various factors seem to be preventing wider use of the vaccine, Dr. Harpaz explained. First, it is still fairly new, introduced in 2006. And on occasion its manufacturer, Merck, has been unable to produce enough, twice causing shortages that lasted for months. The most recent one is just ending, and an ample supply is promised by the end of this month. But uncertainty about availability has frustrated both doctors and patients.

And how many older patients even know to ask for the shot? ?Merck has not aggressively marketed this vaccine at all,? Dr. Harpaz said. ?And other players aren?t promoting it either, like health departments or even the C.D.C., so there?s less awareness of it.?

But it?s also harder to make the shingles vaccine available. ?It?s the most expensive vaccine recommended to the elderly,? he said. An inoculation costs about $200, and not all insurance plans cover it.

Medicare does, but through the drug benefit, Part D. Most people will want to get it in doctors? offices, however, and doctors are paid by a different Medicare benefit, Part B. This means that patients frequently have to pay for the vaccine and injection out of pocket, then get reimbursed. In some cases, they buy the vaccine at a pharmacy, where Medicare covers most of the cost, and then carry it to a doctor?s office for the injection ? a bad idea, since it needs to remain frozen. Such financial complications are the major barrier to use, The Annals of Internal Medicine reported earlier this year.

Moreover, internists and other doctors who treat adults may have trouble storing the vaccine; they don?t usually have freezers in their offices. Family practitioners often do, though, because they treat children and pediatric vaccines are also frozen.

Yes, the distribution and marketing of the vaccine clearly still need work. But as caregivers, we may be more conscious than our parents of its availability, better able to ascertain which doctor or pharmacy has it and to cope with the resulting paperwork, perhaps better able to shell out $200.

So help spread the word. Shingles is a mean disease, and the older the victim, the meaner it gets. Apart from the pain of that postherpetic neuralgia, it can attack the eyes and permanently damage vision. And once you get an outbreak, you can get another. And another.

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Old 06-28-2011, 01:23 PM  
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I've had friends with it, it looks terrible.

I had chicken pox as a kid, probably one of the last generations where we were all huddled together to be exposed, so I've been told I can't get shingles.
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Old 06-28-2011, 03:34 PM  
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They treat shingles and herpes with the same medicines. Wrap your mind around that one.

I do NOT get vaccinated. Ever. Neither has my daughter. You can keep your syringes filled with live viruses.

The flu virus mutates every couple years, so why should we get a flu shot every year? Because they make a dollar.

No thanks. I'll keep my healthy immune system just the way it is. My daughter, who is now 8 months, hasn't had a single shot. Other than vitamin K at birth even though I told them not to. We had words. She's never been sick. Never had a cough. Nothing. No shots either. Hmmmmm

Seems like a healthy, clean lifestyle goes a long ways.
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Old 06-29-2011, 10:40 AM  
mohel
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Austin View Post
I've had friends with it, it looks terrible.

I had chicken pox as a kid, probably one of the last generations where we were all huddled together to be exposed, so I've been told I can't get shingles.
I thought the same thing before discovering my chicken pox virus had hid in my jaw base till conditions were optimal for emerging as shingles. I've had both but can still get shingles again. Ask your doc and then get the vaccine.
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Old 06-29-2011, 10:53 AM  
mohel
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Britney View Post
They treat shingles and herpes with the same medicines. Wrap your mind around that one.
For good reason, it's a big family but all are related.

Quote:
The Herpesviridae are a large family of DNA viruses that cause diseases in animals, including humans.[1][2][3] The members of this family are also known as herpesviruses. The family name is derived from the Greek word herpein ("to creep"), referring to the latent, recurring infections typical of this group of viruses. Herpesviridae can cause latent or lytic infections.

Quote:
I do NOT get vaccinated. Ever. Neither has my daughter. You can keep your syringes filled with live viruses.
No vaccine uses live viruses, just dead ones.

Quote:
The flu virus mutates every couple years, so why should we get a flu shot every year? Because they make a dollar.
Each year sees a new variant of some strain or strains. I think the shots are useful but in many years the strain that causes the most illness seems barely affected. If you were elderly you might require it but most people can survive a bout.

Quote:
No thanks. I'll keep my healthy immune system just the way it is. My daughter, who is now 8 months, hasn't had a single shot. Other than vitamin K at birth even though I told them not to. We had words. She's never been sick. Never had a cough. Nothing. No shots either. Hmmmmm
Brit, you're a bright self proclaimed geek so go to Google and do the research. Your baby needs some of these immunizations. Use your fine mind and not cultural ignorance to decide.

Quote:
Seems like a healthy, clean lifestyle goes a long ways.
Sure helps but 21st Century Medicine helps too.
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Old 06-29-2011, 11:14 AM  
mohel
 
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Immune system evasions

*Herpesviruses are known for their ability to establish lifelong infections.*

Quote:
One way this is possible is through immune evasion. Herpesviruses have found many different ways to evade the immune system. One such way is by encoding a protein mimicking human interleukin 10 (hIL-10) and another is by downregulation of the Major Histocompatibility Complex II (MHC II) in infected cells. Research conducted on cytomegalovirus (CMV) indicates that the viral human IL-10 homolog, cmvIL-10, is important in inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokine synthesis.
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Taxonomy

The family Herpesviridae has been elevated to the order Herpesvirales. This order currently has 3 families, 3 subfamilies plus 1 unassigned, 17 genera plus 4 unassigned, and 90 species.[15]
The following genera are included in the family Herpesviridae:
Subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae
Genus Iltovirus; type species: Gallid herpesvirus 1
Species: Gallid herpesvirus 1, Psittacid herpesvirus 1
Genus Mardivirus; type species: Gallid herpesvirus 2
Species: Columbid herpesvirus 1, Gallid herpesvirus 2, Gallid herpesvirus 3, Meleagrid herpesvirus 1
Genus Simplexvirus; type species: Human herpesvirus 1
Species: Ateline herpesvirus 1, Bovine herpesvirus 2, Cercopithecine herpesvirus 2, Human herpesvirus 1, Human herpesvirus 2, Leporid herpesvirus 4, Macacine herpesvirus 1, Macropodid herpesvirus 1, Macropodid herpesvirus 2, Papiine herpesvirus 2, Saimiriine herpesvirus 1
Genus Unassigned
Species: Chelonid herpesvirus 5, Chelonid herpesvirus 6
Genus Varicellovirus; type species: Human herpesvirus 3
Species: Bovine herpesvirus 1, Bovine herpesvirus 5, Bubaline herpesvirus 1, Canid herpesvirus 1, Caprine herpesvirus 1, Cercopithecine herpesvirus 9, Cervid herpesvirus 1, Cervid herpesvirus 2, Equid herpesvirus 1, Equid herpesvirus 3, Equid herpesvirus 4, Equid herpesvirus 8, Equid herpesvirus 9, Felid herpesvirus 1, Human herpesvirus 3, Phocid herpesvirus 1, Suid herpesvirus
Subfamily Betaherpesvirinae
Genus Cytomegalovirus; type species: Human herpesvirus 5
Species: Cercopithecine herpesvirus 5, Human herpesvirus 5, Macacine herpesvirus 3, Panine herpesvirus 2
Genus Muromegalovirus; type species: Murid herpesvirus 1
Species: Murid herpesvirus 1, Murid herpesvirus 2
Genus Proboscivirus; type species: Elephantid herpesvirus 1
Genus Roseolovirus; type species: Human herpesvirus 6
Species: Human herpesvirus 6, Human herpesvirus 7
Genus Unassigned
Species: Caviid herpesvirus 2, Suid herpesvirus 2, Tupaiid herpesvirus 1
Subfamily Gammaherpesvirinae
Genus Lymphocryptovirus; type species: Human herpesvirus 4
Species: Callitrichine herpesvirus 3, Cercopithecine herpesvirus 14, Gorilline herpesvirus 1, Human herpesvirus 4, Macacine herpesvirus 4, Panine herpesvirus 1, Papiine herpesvirus 1, Pongine herpesvirus 2
Genus Macavirus; type species: Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1
Species: Alcelaphine herpesvirus 1, Alcelaphine herpesvirus 2, Bovine herpesvirus 6, Caprine herpesvirus 2, Hippotragine herpesvirus 1, Ovine herpesvirus 2, Suid herpesvirus 3, Suid herpesvirus 4, Suid herpesvirus 5
Genus Percavirus; type species: Equid herpesvirus 2
Species: Equid herpesvirus 2, Equid herpesvirus 5, Mustelid herpesvirus 1
Genus Rhadinovirus; type species: Saimiriine herpesvirus 2
Species: Ateline herpesvirus 2, Ateline herpesvirus 3, Bovine herpesvirus 4, Human herpesvirus 8, Macacine herpesvirus 5, Murid herpesvirus 4, Saimiriine herpesvirus 2
Genus Unassigned
Species: Equid herpesvirus 7, Phocid herpesvirus 2, Saguinine herpesvirus 1
Subfamily Unassigned
Genus Unassigned
Species: Iguanid herpesvirus 2
[edit]


Recently someone posted links to a cold sore medication in CityProfile. I responded that L Lysine, a commonly found amino acid can do the same job. Cold sores are Herpes Simplex and we're almost all infected by it. Herpes preys on vertebrates so the best defense is a bit of research.

The Big Picture Book of Viruses - Herpesviruses
Herpesviridae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_(biology)
ihmf.org

Herpesvirus Evolution
"Herpesviruses are a spectacular evolutionary success. They have been discovered throughout the spectrum of vertebrates and in at least one invertebrate. In nature, each is closely associated with a single host species, and the most extensively studied hosts are infected by several distinct herpesviruses. It is likely, therefore, that the 120 or so recognised species that currently constitute the family Herpesviridae represent a tiny portion of the number in existence. The host-specific occurrence of herpesviruses indicates that they have evolved with their hosts over long periods of time and are exquisitely well adapted to them. This view is supported by molecular phylogenetic studies and by the modest pathogenicity of herpesviruses in their natural settings. Examples of herpesviruses that exhibit high pathogenicity, either in humans or in farmed animals, are invariably the results of disequilibrium promoted by human activity."[1]

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