I was misinformed
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2015
- Messages
- 106
The NY Times has a story on shingles vaccination, a subject that has arisen before here. The story basically restates current CDC guidelines without digging much deeper into the science and evidence behind the guidance. The story was most useful to me in that the author provides updated information on the new "Shingrix" vaccine which is likely much more effective than the currently available vaccine. According to the story GlaxoSmithKine applied for FDA approval in October. If things go smoothly it might be available in 1-2 years.
In the "readers' comments" section the author addresses a question that has arisen here at ER-org in earlier discussion, namely whether one can safely get the current vaccine and then Shingrix when it becomes available later. The author says the CDC is now doing a study on this question but that their official guidance is for folks to get the current vaccine and not wait for Shingrex.
The "readers' comments" has some interesting discussion of the theory that the introduction of chicken pox vaccination for children actually contributed to the incidence of shingles in the older population - the idea being that repeated exposure to chicken pox may have acted like a vaccination for the population at risk for shingles. The author relays the CDC's view that this is unlikely - shingles incidence has been increasing for decades for unknown reasons but they see no special increase associated with the introduction of chicken pox vaccine in 1995, and the shingles increase is seen also in countries where the chicken pox vaccine is not widely available.
Anyways here is the link to the story (note The NY Times allows free access to 10 articles per month):
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/h...column&rref=collection/column/the-new-old-age
In the "readers' comments" section the author addresses a question that has arisen here at ER-org in earlier discussion, namely whether one can safely get the current vaccine and then Shingrix when it becomes available later. The author says the CDC is now doing a study on this question but that their official guidance is for folks to get the current vaccine and not wait for Shingrex.
The "readers' comments" has some interesting discussion of the theory that the introduction of chicken pox vaccination for children actually contributed to the incidence of shingles in the older population - the idea being that repeated exposure to chicken pox may have acted like a vaccination for the population at risk for shingles. The author relays the CDC's view that this is unlikely - shingles incidence has been increasing for decades for unknown reasons but they see no special increase associated with the introduction of chicken pox vaccine in 1995, and the shingles increase is seen also in countries where the chicken pox vaccine is not widely available.
Anyways here is the link to the story (note The NY Times allows free access to 10 articles per month):
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/h...column&rref=collection/column/the-new-old-age