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Shingles vaccination a must, UB microbiologist says

Terry Connell.

UB microbiologist knows from personal experience: Everyone over the age of 60 would be wise to get a shingles vaccination. Photo: DOUGLAS LEVERE

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM

Published June 19, 2014 This content is archived.

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“It was the most debilitating and painful thing I’d ever experienced. ”
Terry D. Connell , Professor of Microbiology and Immunology

Terry D. Connell knows a lot about the immune system: He’s a UB faculty member in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who conducts research on new vaccines for diseases, such as tuberculosis.

But his academic credentials are only part of the reason that he strongly believes that everyone over the age of 60 should get a shingles vaccination. The other is his personal experience with shingles.

“It was the most debilitating and painful thing I’d ever experienced,” says Connell, who had shingles about a decade ago. “At times, it was so painful I couldn’t have a bedsheet touch my body.”

Connell had symptoms for two months. He developed a rash on the small of his back and blisters on the bottom and top of one of his feet. “For a few days, it was too painful to walk,” he recalls, noting that once he could walk, he had to use a cane for about two weeks. 

“I was lucky,” says Connell. “The pain in some individuals can be so severe that physicians have to prescribe antidepressant drugs.”

And in some cases, shingles can leave the individual with lifelong pain, caused by a post-shingles syndrome termed “post-herpetic neuralgia.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 13 percent of people over 60 will develop post-herpetic neuralgia after having shingles.

“Shingles are caused by varicella zoster, the same virus that causes chicken pox,” Connell explains. “Once the virus infects an individual, often as a child, and the primary symptoms of chickenpox subside, the virus ‘hides out’ in the nerve cells of the body. Those hidden viruses can reactivate at any point in life to produce shingles.”

Nearly one in three Americans will develop shingles, according to the CDC. The chance of developing shingles becomes more likely as people age.

“That’s because our immune systems weaken as we age,” says Connell. “With the weakened immune system, we cannot keep the ‘hidden’ virus under control.”

Vaccination is recommended for everyone over the age of 60. According to the CDC, vaccinated individuals still can develop shingles, but the vaccine likely will make the pain less severe and should shorten the length of the outbreak.

Shingles starts as a rash, usually on only one side of the body. It commonly appears in the shape of a stripe, often around the abdomen, but it can occur on any part of the body, including the face, eyes or mouth. Before the rash forms, there often is pain and itching or tingling. The disease often is accompanied by fever, headache, chills and upset stomach. 

Shingles can strike out of the blue, Connell says, even if you are perfectly healthy, as he was.

“I had just added weight lifting to my fitness routine and one day after I worked out, my back started hurting,” Connell recalls. “I thought, ‘Oh, it’s from the workout.’”

A few days later, however, the pain became much worse. Connell worried that it might be a herniated disk.

“I could barely get out of bed,” he recalls. “I was sure it was my back. I managed to get an appointment with UB Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. As I was getting out of the car and placed my foot on the pavement, a sharp pain zipped from my foot all the way up my leg. I stepped out of my shoe and saw the blisters. Right away, with what I know about infectious disease, I suspected it was shingles.”

He realized that he probably needed to see his primary care physician. But, as he was already at UB, he went to the appointment. When the sports medicine physician couldn’t find anything wrong with his back or muscles, Connell deliberately revealed the blisters on his foot. “I remember a big smile breaking out on his face as he realized what I had already surmised: shingles.”

With Connell’s permission, the doctor immediately summoned all the UB medical residents in the clinic so that they could see for themselves how symptoms presenting as one medical issue may turn out to be something entirely different.

“The sports medicine doctor said shingles is very common,” says Connell. “If the residents hadn’t known about the blisters, they would still be assuming it was a backache. It turned out to be a great learning opportunity for our medical residents.”

Shingles can be transmitted through contact with the lesions that develop. Most people only have one episode of shingles, Connell says. A very small percentage of people, however, will develop shingles one or more times.   

“If you’ve ever had chickenpox, I highly recommend that you get the shingles vaccine.  I don’t want anyone to experience what I experienced,” he says.

READER COMMENTS

I certainly agree with having a shingles vaccination...But how often after 60-70 years of age????

Cedric Smith

Professor Emeritus

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology

I would like to get a shingles vaccination (I'm 61 and I had chicken pox as a child), but I am afraid it would further impair my immune system. I have an autoimmune condition called Mixed Connective Tissue Disorder and I have mild inflammation in my hands and wrists. I think my immune system changed 3 years ago after having a flu shot and then a swine flu shot 2 months later. I haven't gotten a flu shot since then. If I ask my rheumatologist if a shingles vaccination will make my auto immune problem worse, I know that the answer will be: There's no way to know for sure. What do you think?

Gail Cohen

I am 72 years old. I had a moderate case of shingles at age 56. Should I get the shingle vaccine?

Lee Runk

I was advised not to get the shingles vaccine because I had been successfully treated for Hodgkin's disease more than 25 years ago. By the way, I had a case of shingles 6 months before my second bout with Hodgkins in 1983.

Kathie Bates

My girlfriend (age 51) recently came down with shingles, although it was nowhere close to this case as far as severity. She was able to function, although complained of itching for weeks. I found out that the shingles vaccine does not provide full protection, though -- it is only about 50% effective. And it has a hefty price -- about $220. Without insurance, this has to be weighed in. Seeing what my friend went through, it was not enough for me to run out to get it for the low risk of a severe infection.

Joe Voytovich