My dr. wants me to have innoculations: flu shots; pnemonia shots; shingles shots: How safe? What are risks verses true benefit

Hey, Pam,
So sorry about your bout with shingles! Ouch, ouch. My bout was more than 10 years ago and yet I can still recall exactly how much it hurt. Nerve pain is such a different pain than other pain. I remember that it hurt even when nothing was touching it, not even a cotton sheet. It was sensitive even to breeze from the ceiling fan.

This story on CNN with Mayo Clinic info in it states that most people develop shingles only once (Thank heavens, right?) You might also be interested to know that even when your blisters are gone, you may have pain at the site for quite a while (I did.) It's called postherpetic neuralgia, and basically means your nerves are still sending pain messages to your brain:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00098.html

As far as your question about the shingles vaccine goes, I think it's a good one. I think that with any vaccine, they target the most vulnerable populations first, and with shingles, more cases occur in people over 60 than in other age groups. But now that there's a chickenpox vaccine, maybe common acceptance of the shingles vaccine will be right behind.

Patricia,

So many stories that we hear make this a scary topic for some people. Vaccinations are in the spotlight so often that it's hard to remember that the vast majority of them are safe for the vast majority of people.

You're also very smart to want reputable information; there is a lot of misinformation on the web that's often well-intentioned but can be incorrect.

Here's a page from WebMD.com that discusses the things you want to know about getting a flu shot:

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/should-i-get-a-flu-shot

The syndrome you heard about associated with flu shots is Guillain-Barre. People who have had this illness in the past are generally counseled not to get a flu shot. Here's an article in the CNN library on the connection between the two:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00413.html

And here's a page from the Centers for Disease Control that says that one out of a million people are at risk of GBS after receiving a flu shot:

http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/about/qa/gbs.htm

Now let's talk about the pneumonia shot. Pneumonia is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable death in the United States, and combined with the flu it is the fifth leading cause of death overall, according to this page on about.com, which offers good information about who is at risk and what the side effects are:

http://coldflu.about.com/od/pneumonia/p/pneumoniashot.htm

And now let's talk about shingles. I can tell you that I also had a very bad case of chicken pox as a child, and yet I had a bout with shingles when I was in my late 30s. You do NOT want to ever experience shingles. The blisters and nerve pain from shingles is intense and the scarring can be quite severe. Here's an information page on shingles:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shingles/shingles.htm

and here's a Mayo Clinic page on shingles that defines shingles, discusses symptoms, causes and risk factors (if you have had chicken pox, if you are over 60, if you have a weakened immune system for any reason or if you have direct contact with someone who has shingles, you are at an increased risk. Click on the "Prevention" button to read about the vaccine, including who and who should not consider getting it.

Hope this was of some help!