Shingles

About the vaccine

Did you know?

Shingles can cause severe and very hard-to-treat pain that may last months or years.

The shingles vaccine is the best way to protect you from getting shingles. The vaccine has been shown to reduce the risk of getting shingles by 50%. It also reduces pain, including the type of pain that lingers after shingles, if you get shingles despite having been vaccinated.

The vaccine is recommended, but not provided free, to people over 60. One dose of the vaccine provides protection.

You can buy the shingles vaccine at some travel clinics or pharmacies for between $150-$190. Some health insurance plans may cover the cost, check with your provider. If you buy the vaccine at a health clinic, a doctor or nurse will be able to vaccinate you on site.

Vaccines are very safe. It is much safer to get the vaccine than to get shingles. Talk to your doctor, nurse or health provider about getting vaccinated.

For more information about the vaccine, who should get it, the benefits and possible reactions, go to the Shingles Vaccine HealthLink BC File.

About the disease

Shingles is a painful skin rash with blisters. It is caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. In some people who have had chickenpox, the virus becomes active again later in life and causes shingles. About 1 out of 3 people will get shingles in their lifetime.

  • Shingles is more common in people over 50 years of age or in people with immune systems weakened by medication or disease. Shingles usually appears as a rash on one side of the face or body. The rash may last for 2 to 4 weeks
  • People may experience pain, itching or tingling of the skin before the rash appears.
  • Other early symptoms of shingles include fever, headache, nausea, and chills
  • The most common symptom of shingles is pain, which can be severe
  • About 1 in 5 people who get shingles may have severe pain that lasts months to years after the rash has cleared. This is known as post-herpetic neuralgia
  • Rare complications of shingles include pneumonia, loss of hearing or vision, scarring, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) or death
  • You cannot get shingles from someone who has shingles. However, it is possible for someone who has not had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine to get chickenpox from someone with shingles. This is uncommon and requires direct contact with the shingles rash.