When you have chickenpox as a child, your body fights off the varicella-zoster virus and the physical signs of chickenpox fade away, but the virus always remains in your body. In adulthood, sometimes the virus becomes active again. This time, the varicella-zoster virus makes its second appearance in the form of shingles.

The vaccine not only helps reduce your risk of developing shingles, but can lessen the severity and duration of any symptoms if you do, as well as cutting your risk of developing post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN).

There are two shingles vaccines available in Ireland, one is called Zostavax and the other is called Shingrix. They can both be given to people aged 50 or over. The shingles vaccine called Shingrix can in addition be given to people aged 18 to 49 years who are at increased risk of getting shingles. You can get the vaccination year-round. If you’ve had shingles before, you can still have the vaccination provided it’s been over one year since you have had shingles.

Once you receive the vaccination it’s important you remain in the pharmacy for a minimum of 15 minutes after your vaccination, in case you experience any immediate side-effects.
Sometimes, a severe allergic reaction can occur. Signs include hives, swelling of the face and throat, difficulty breathing, a fast heartbeat, dizziness and weakness.

If this happens, the pharmacies have procedures in place to deal with this condition.

Early symptoms of shingles may include:

• Fever.
• Chills.
• Headache.
• Feeling tired.
• Sensitivity to light.
• Stomach upset.

Other signs and symptoms that appear a few days after the early symptoms include:

• An itching, tingling or burning feeling in an area of your skin.
• Redness on your skin in the affected area.
• Raised rash in a small area of your skin.
• Fluid-filled blisters that break open then scab over.
• Mild to severe pain in the area of skin affected.

Shingles can be diagnosed by the way the rash is distributed on your body. The blisters of a shingles rash usually appear in a band on one side of your body.

There is no cure for shingles but there are treatments for managing the symptoms.
Antiviral medications may ease the discomfort and make the symptoms stop sooner, particularly if you start them within 72 hours of the first sign of shingles.

Useful link: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/shingles/