SHINGLES VACCINE

 

Rujukan Malaysia : 

MyHealth Ministry Of Health

The Malaysian Times

BP Health Care 

Rujukan Luar Negara :

CDC

NHS UK 

ZOSTAVAX 

Varicella-Zoster Viral Infection

The Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) causes two distinct diseases, varicella (chickenpox), usually during childhood, and herpes zoster, HZ (shingles), usually much later in adult life.

The first infection with the varicella-zoster virus causes chickenpox. After recovery, the virus remains latent (sleeping) in spinal nerves and may reactivate years later, causing shingles.

Table 1: Comparison of Chicken Pox and Shingles

	Chicken Pox	Shingles
Cause	Caused by primary infection with VZV	Secondary infection from reactivation of latent VZV
Age when affected	> 90% infection occurs before adolescence	Only occurs in adults with prior VZV infection
Population affected	Children, but may be extended to adult	Usually adults aged 50 years or older
Signs & Symptoms	Starts with mild fever Loss of appetite Headache Tiredness Itchy rash that becomes blisters	Starts with altered sensation (eg: tingling, burning, numbness at rash area) Mild fever Tiredness Unilateral, localized rash that becomes blisters Nerve pain
Area of rash	Rash is usually widespread over trunk and face with some on arms and legs	Rash is localized, in infected nerve supplies, typically on the back/chest/face
Mode of transmission	Contact with infected droplets of saliva in the air initially, then contact with liquid from rash blisters may cause chickenpox	Contact with liquid from rash blisters that may cause chickenpox
Contagiousness	Infectious from 1-2 days before rash appears until after the rash blisters have dried up	Infectious once the rash becomes blisters until after the rash blisters have dried up

Table 2: Types of vaccine available in Malaysia