Shingles vaccine
Just listening to NPR stories that interest me and happened on one about a vaccine for shingles. According to the article, your chances for getting shingles doubles if your parent, sibling, or child has already had shingles. It quadruples if two of those people have had shingles.
I have two people in that group who have had shingles. The vaccine costs around $160.
They describe the pain of shingles in the article. They said that medicare and some insurances cover it for those over 60, but that they are urging coverage now for those over 50.
They blame the increase in cases of shingles on the chicken pox vaccine. The thinking is that when all kids got chicken pox, there were enough cases of chicken pox walking around that they served as booster shots for adults. Now that most kids do not get chicken pox, adults' immunity to shingles has weakened.
I have two people in that group who have had shingles. The vaccine costs around $160.
They describe the pain of shingles in the article. They said that medicare and some insurances cover it for those over 60, but that they are urging coverage now for those over 50.
They blame the increase in cases of shingles on the chicken pox vaccine. The thinking is that when all kids got chicken pox, there were enough cases of chicken pox walking around that they served as booster shots for adults. Now that most kids do not get chicken pox, adults' immunity to shingles has weakened.
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