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Can you get shingles from the flu shot?The short answer is no.
The longer answer is below, and will help you filter through the information and misinformation you might have heard about a possible connection between shingles and the flu shot.
Facts about the Flu and the Flu Shot
Health Canada describes influenza as a viral infection that affects the nose, throat, and lungs. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, it is estimated that between 1976 and 2007 the number of those who caught the flu ranged between a low of 3,000 to a high of 49,000 people.
During a normal flu season (October to May) 90 percent of deaths associated with the flu occur in people aged 65 years and over.(1)
The traditional flu vaccine protects against two influenza A viruses – the human H1N1 strain and the H3N2 strain – and one influenza B virus. The vaccines contain an inert version of the virus so that you don’t get the symptoms or pass the virus to others. However, your body develops antibodies towards those strains, giving most people complete immunity from those virus strains.
There is still the chance that you can get the flu even if you have had the flu shot. The hope is that because you’ve had the flu shot, your symptoms won’t be as severe, and the duration of your illness will be shorter than without the vaccine.
You cannot get the flu from the flu shot. Again, the flu vaccine contains a “dead” version of the virus that does not infect or cause symptoms. In some cases, people have already been exposed to the virus and don’t know it.
Symptoms can appear one to four days after exposure. It takes two weeks for your body to develop flu antibodies from the flu shot.
Facts about Shingles
Shingles is caused by a completely different virus than Influenza. It is actually caused by varicella-zoster virus -- the same virus which also causes chickenpox.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes shingles as “an outbreak of rash or blisters on the skin.” (4) The first sign of shingles is often burning or tingling pain, or sometimes numbness or itchiness in one particular location on only one side of the body.
Then, several days or up to a week later, a rash of fluid-filled blisters (like chickenpox) appears in this one area most commonly on the trunk of the body around the waistline.
The severity of the pain varies from person to person, but many people report agonizing, debilitating pain that leaves them unable to do the simplest things like dressing themselves. The rubbing of fabric or even the brush of air can be painful.
If you have had the chickenpox, you are at risk for developing shingles.
Scientists believe that in the original, earlier case of chickenpox, some of the varicella-zoster virus particles migrated from the blisters to the nervous system. The varicella-zoster virus reactivates and moves down to longer nerve fibers and multiplies, causing the tell-tale rash. (4)
No one really knows what triggers or reactivates the virus or why. We don't know why the immunity developed for chickenpox doesn’t also protect against shingles either.
Because shingles is its own unique virus, a completely shingles-focused vaccine was developed and is now available and recommended to those aged 50 and up, the age group most at risk for experiencing shingles.
Shingles and influenza are completely different viruses, so one cannot cause the other. The flu vaccine cannot cause shingles, neither can the shingles vaccine cause influenza.
Sources:
1. Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web. Accessed: Nov 27, 2014.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm
2. About the Flu. Health Canada. HealthyCanadians.gc.ca. Web. Accessed: Nov 27, 2014.
http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/diseases-conditions-maladies-affections/disease-maladie/flu-grippe/about-a_propos-eng.php
3. Risk. Health Canada. HealthyCanadians.gc.ca. Web. Accessed: Nov 27, 2014.
http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/diseases-conditions-maladies-affections/disease-maladie/flu-grippe/risks-risques-eng.php
4. NINDS Shingles Information Page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Web. Accessed: Nov 27, 2014.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shingles/shingles.htm
5. Flu Facts. KidsHealth.org. Web. Accessed: Nov 27, 2014.
http://kidshealth.org/teen/infections/common/flu.html
Reviewed November 28, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith
Add a Comment14 Comments
Sounds to me like the short answer is "yes".
December 8, 2014 - 3:09pm"No one really knows what triggers or reactivates the virus or why. "
So why can't the flu vaccine trigger it? It is perfectly plausible that it is a mechanism which triggers the shingles virus, creating an outbreak. That the FDA is not reporting this as a reported side effect is illegal and a cover up in my opinion.
Nor more flu vaccines for me, ever. Better to get the flu than deal with post-herpetic neuralgia for the rest of my life!
This Comment
There's a difference between saying something "causes" a disease or illness and triggering them. Shingles is not "caused" by the flu shot. The article was meant to address the question, does the flu shot cause Shingles, and the answer is no. Shingles is caused by a completely different virus.
January 25, 2015 - 3:31pmThis Comment
I'm with you on this one!!! WAY to many people have reported this as a side effect of the vaccine....
January 22, 2015 - 8:36amThis Comment
Many people are fighting Autism, Aspergers Syndrome and other health problems by detoxing (removing) the Mercury included in vaccines that go by the three names thermisol, thimerosal and thiomersal from their children's body's after being vaccinated. These mercury products are added to vaccines to prevent microbial and fungus growth. Many cases of Autism, Aspergers and other health problems are being discovered soon after vaccinations that include mercury are carried out! A number of people that are concerned about Autism and other related and unrelated disorders are now suggesting that the ingestable natural mineral called Zeolite will do the best job of safely removing this mercury from the body as well as lead and all other toxic heavy metals. For more information on this important detox do a simple search for the single word Zeolite or search for " Detox With Micronized Zeolite"
November 28, 2014 - 10:36amThis Comment