Can a Flu shot lead to Shingles?

I stumbled on this site while googling shingles and flu shot. I am a 49 year old RN, and have had the flu shot for many years. I received this year's shot on October 5th. This past Saturday, Oct 17, my face broke out. I initially thought it was a reaction to something, but ended up in the ER, and am now on antivirals. The fact that it's on my face is horrible, I feel I can't even leave the house, and am now off work. I haven't experienced the pain others talk about, but plenty of burning and itching. I can't believe that as a nurse, I've never heard of this connection. I don't know whether I'll ever get the flu shot again.

My 78 year old father received the shot last week.... bingo... shingles this week for the first time in his life....

I recently HAD the flu (no shot) and had the same occurance of painful eruptions on my right ankle that did look like ant bites. At first my ankle turned bright red and was painful and then I noticed the spots which were in a line on one side of my ankle and I did suspect shingles but did not go to a doctor.

I too found this site after googling "flu shot feels like shingles". I am a 32 yo male, and had a mild case of shingles in my right chest and arm last year. Now I am getting the same feeling in the left arm, two days after getting a flu shot there. So weird.

Thank you for sharing your experience anonymous. As you can see from previous comments, shingles are common for many people after the administering of a flu shot. Have you sought help from your physician?

I had the flu shoot two weeks before breaking out with shingles. A co-worker has had the same experience and brought this to my attention!

10/16/09

Received the flu shot in my left arm on Sept 15th and approximately 2 weeks later began to experience nerve sensitivity on the left side of my face and head. Noticed a few bumps a few days later on my head and decided to see the doc. I was diagnosed with shingles and am still experiencing nerve sensitivity even though the rash has pretty much dried up. There has to be some relationship. I am a perfectly healthy 55 y/o male and my immune system is working fine. I think it was in 1976 that a previous swine flu vaccine caused an outbreak of Guillian Barre Syndrome. This will probably be my last flu shot.

Hi, I'm a healthy 27 yr old male who came across this site while Googling "flu vaccine: shingles". I got the flu vaccine a few weeks ago and approximately 2 weeks later I broke out with the shingles and was diagnosed as such. The rash occurred on the same side of my body as the shot. It is amazing how many folks on this site got shingles 'approx 2 weeks following the flu shot'!

I was given an antiviral medicine which seemed to help. I'm trying to gather ammunition for my doctor's appointment. I'm in the Air Force where vaccinations are mandatory (H1N1 coming up). Hopefully I can convince him to write me a waiver, which I will guard with my life. This is hopefully the LAST TIME I will receive ANY flu shot.

I got a 'flu shot several years ago and came down with severe shingles on my face, around my eye. I would NEVER have another 'flu shot.