Talk:Zoster vaccine

Source for further expansion
The following Cochrane review could be incorporated into the article. Gabbe (talk) 17:54, 10 July 2012 (UTC)
 * As should this one: Gabbe (talk) 18:35, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

Age 50 or 60?
This page mentions it is for those 60 and over. I followed the links from here to documents about the drug, and they all say 50 and over. Is a correction in order? Donpayette (talk) 00:22, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

Contagion from Zostavax Injection
Can this live vaccine cause disease in the injected person, and/or others? If there is a reaction at the injection site, can this be contagious to others? These are important questions for the relevant articles to adequately address. And most of the main ordinary sources seem to try to have it both ways. They do not report infections to anyone from the vaccine, but mention repeatedly that it is "live", and that there is some concern if there is a reaction at the injection site, and that such site reactions should be kept covered and that exposure to vulnerable others should be avoided -- out of a theoretical over-abundance of caution?

The Herpes_zoster article seems better than the Zoster vaccine article.

sources review summary


 * medicinenet.com
 * DOSING: Zoster vaccine is injected subcutaneously (under the skin) in the upper arm. The recommended dose is 0.65 ml.
 * Transmission of VZV virus from vaccinated individuals to other individuals occurs rarely.

The most apt discussion, but not authoritative:
 * ask-curtis.com/shingles-vaccine-can-i-be-around-a-pregnant-woman/
 * ask-curtis.com/how-long-am-i-contagious-after-shingles-vaccine/
 * Summary: Zostavax (the Shingles vaccine) is a live attenuated vaccine. Because of this there is concern that after you get vaccinated you should avoid contact with people who have weakened immune systems. If you tolerated the vaccine well and have no outward signs of illness it’s probably OK to be around people within seven days of the shot.
 * The fact of the matter is that a lot of the concerns about Zostavax infecting others is based on after market reporting. That’s because no drug company is purposely going to look at whether a drug will cause harm to pregnant women, HIV patients, cancer patients or the elderly.
 * Probably the best advice is to avoid high risk populations, even if you feel fine, for 7 days. If you still feel fine that far out it’s highly unlikely that you would pose much of a risk to anyone.


 * vaccines.mil -- most helpful/informative authoritative source
 * Zostavax is a single-dose, sterile, preservative-free, live, attenuated vaccine manufactured by Merck & Co.

Each dose of Zostavax contains a minimum of 19,400 plaque-forming units (PFU) of the Oka/Merck strain of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) at expiry. The same manufacturing process used for Zostavax is used to manufacture Varivax, the vaccine for the prevention of chickenpox, with the exception that Zostavax contains higher amounts of the attenuated Oka/Merck vaccine virus in order to elicit an appropriate immune response.
 * 5. Can the vaccine cause chickenpox?

Because this vaccine is made from a live, but weakened virus, about 1% of recipients develop a mild form of the disease, consisting of a limited rash, most often with only 5-6 blisters. Usually there is no fever. These people are then protected from the more serious, naturally occurring form of the virus.
 * 6. Can the vaccine cause shingles?

Yes. However, a study conducted among children with leukemia determined that after receiving the vaccine these children were much less likely to develop shingles than children who had prior natural chickenpox. Available information from healthy children and adults suggest that shingles is less common in vaccinated healthy people compared with people who have had natural chickenpox.


 * cdc.gov says:
 * No serious problems have been identified with shingles vaccine.
 * The vaccine has been tested in about 20,000 people aged 60 years old and older. The most common side effects in people who got the vaccine were redness, soreness, swelling or itching at the shot site, and headache. CDC, working with the FDA, will continue to monitor the safety of the vaccine after it is in general use.
 * It is safe to be around infants and young children, pregnant women, or people with weakened immune systems after you get the shingles vaccine. There is no documentation of a person getting chickenpox from someone who has received the shingles vaccine (which contains varicella zoster virus).
 * Some people who get the shingles vaccine will develop a chickenpox-like rash near the place where they were vaccinated. As a precaution, this rash should be covered until it disappears.


 * fda.gov has minimal useful informaion:
 * Also, people who are in close contact with pregnant women who have not had chickenpox should talk to their healthcare provider to decide if using Zostavax is right for them.


 * zostavax.com has this carefully worded vague warning:
 * ZOSTAVAX (Zoster Vaccine Live) contains a weakened chickenpox virus. Tell your health care professional if you will be in close contact with newborn infants, someone who may be pregnant and has not had chickenpox or been vaccinated against chickenpox, or someone who has problems with their immune system. Your health care professional can tell you what situations you may need to avoid.


 * rxlist.com:
 * Caution is advised if you have regular close contact with family/household members with weakened immune systems (e.g., due to cancer) or who may be pregnant. It is not known if infection may occur from close contact with someone who has received this vaccine. Consult your doctor for more details.

-96.233.20.129 (talk) 19:23, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

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Zoster vaccine
Why is this entry called "Zoster vaccine"? It's about Zostavax, the live zoster vaccine. A GSK subunit vaccine, HZ/su, finished a phase III trial the results of which were published in NEJM 375(11):1019 and 1079, 15 Sep 2016, and probably elsewhere. So now there are at least 2 zoster vaccines. --Nbauman (talk) 02:25, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 * We can either rename this to "Live zoster vaccine" and create a new article, or treat both in one article. The GSK vaccine isn't available where I am, so I don't know much about it. --ἀνυπόδητος (talk) 06:09, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Both vaccines can be discussed in the same article IMO. Had not noticed this discussion. Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) 17:27, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

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Page structure
I believe that to reflect more current recommendations and use (per cited recent MEDRS), content on the more recent recombinant subunit vaccine (Shingrix) should precede the more historical live attenuated attenuated option (Zostavax). (I've boldly gone to make a start here.) 86.186.155.212 (talk) 14:30, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

trimmed sourcing

 * (historical relevance, etc)

86.186.155.212 (talk) 17:57, 19 February 2021 (UTC)