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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Shingles Vaccinations Recommended for All 60 and
Over
CDC committee says action needed to
prevent painful disease
 October 26, 2006 – An advisory committee on
immunization of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
recommended everyone age 60 and older be vaccinated for shingles with
the recently FDA approved Zostavax vaccine. This extremely painful viral
disease inflicts many senior citizens with blisters and nerve pain caused by the
re-activated chicken pox virus.
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Zostavax, approved last May, was shown to reduce
the incidence of shingles by 50 percent and to reduce the pain in those
that did get the disease.
"Generally, anyone 60 and over should be
vaccinated, even if they've had shingles in the past," said Curtis
Allen, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control.
Merck, who makes the vaccine, said the drug costs
about $150 and this recommendation will encourage doctors to use it and
insurers to provide coverage for it. Key insurers in this case would be
Medicare and Medicaid.
The recommendation that the vaccinations begin at
age 60 is based on the evidence that the disease is most common among
older people, whose immune system has weakened.
"The are over a million shingles cases every year
in the United States, with the average person having a 30 percent chance
of developing the condition in their lifetime," said Mark Feinberg, a
senior executive for Merck's vaccine division.
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Story Update |
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WellPoint Covers
Zostavax
October 26, 2006 - WellPoint, Inc., the
largest health benefits company, announced today that effective
immediately it will cover the vaccine Zostavax(TM), designed to
prevent shingles, a painful condition resulting from the
reactivation of the chickenpox virus, typically in older
individuals. WellPoint already provides benefits for Zostavax
through its Medicare Part D benefit.
The vaccine will be covered for
individuals 60 years of age and older whose benefit plans
provide coverage for vaccines. Specific benefit plans may have
variable benefits for immunizations. |
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The CDC's Dr. Rafael Harpaz told NPR that the
disease can be extremely painful. "It can last for months and sometimes
even years. It can be really life shattering.
"I've heard stories of vibrant 62 year old
tennis-playing persons that end up being house-bound and suicidal
because of severe pain and not being able to interact socially and so
forth".
According to Harpaz, "the virus that causes
chickenpox stays in your body throughout life for reasons we don't
really understand -- and for reasons we don't understand, it reactivates
and comes to your skin down one particular nerve to the surface of your
skin where it will cause a rash and pain on one side of your body in one
area".
It almost appears as a 'shingle' along the body,
hence the name. The lesions are blistery and very painful. They can
travel to the face, and into the eyes -- where they can impair vision
and even cause blindness. Shingles is most likely to occur in later
years, when the immune system has declined.
>> National Public Radio (NPR) – Read and listen –
click here
>> Reuters report –
click here
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