Two new vaccine recommendations: How to protect yourself or your child from shingles?

Shingles is caused by the varicella virus. This is the same pathogen that causes varicella (chickenpox). According to figures from the Federal Office for Public Health (BAG), 98 percent of adults in Switzerland had chickenpox as a child. For some, the virus reappears in the form of shingles. Since January 2023, the Swiss vaccination plan recommends that all babies in their first year of life be vaccinated against chickenpox. This is intended to reach 80 to 90 percent immunity in the population in the future. The chickenpox vaccine is a live vaccine containing highly weakened viruses. Immune people are protected not only against shingles, but also against the consequences of severe chickenpox, which can occur at any age.

“The immune system basically keeps the chickenpox virus locked in the nerve cells,” says Niederer-Loher. Since the effectiveness of the immune system decreases with age, the virus sometimes manages to appear in the form of shingles. According to BAG, approximately one-third of people who have chickenpox develop shingles. “Many people underestimate the risk and do not assume that it will affect them,” says the expert. From the age of 65 the risk is significantly higher than in younger people. If your immune system is weak or your immune system is weakened due to stress, you can get shingles at a young age. The corona vaccine can also activate shingles.

Like chickenpox, shingles is contagious as long as fresh blisters are present. BAG recommends that healthy people aged 65 and over get vaccinated to prevent the disease. The recommendation for people with immunocompromise applies from the age of 50 and for people with severe immunodeficiency from the age of 18. The new adult vaccine, approved since autumn 2022, is an inactivated vaccine, unlike the “children’s vaccine”. It does not contain any living pathogens, but instead contains the proteins of the virus. “It is therefore safe to use and very effective for people who are elderly or have compromised immune systems,” says Niederer-Loher. Two doses must be taken at least two months apart. According to experts, the vaccine provides 95 percent protection and, according to current research, this protection lasts at least nine years. Vaccination can usually be done at your GP and, in some cantons, at pharmacies. Health insurance covers the costs.

“A common side effect is pain in the arm, which lasts one to two days and may cause mild swelling,” says Niederer-Loher. You may also feel sick, have a fever, or a headache. “These are unpleasant temporary symptoms, but they are neither dangerous nor do they mean that the vaccine does not work.”

Shingles that has already broken out can no longer be treated with a vaccine. “The vaccine is only worth getting again when you are healthy,” says Niederer-Loher. Then you can protect yourself from a new outbreak of the disease.