Shingles vaccine
Eligible recipients (optional vaccination)
- 50 years or older
- People aged 18 and over who are considered to be at high risk of contracting shingles
Vaccine types and prices
Shingrix®, a shingles vaccine
Shingrix® is a shingles vaccine that was released in January 2020. Two doses of the vaccine are expected to be highly effective in preventing shingles, and its effectiveness has been confirmed to last for 10 years (clinical trials are ongoing).
| Product name | Shingrix® |
|---|---|
| Vaccination price | 27,500 yen (tax included) |
| Types of vaccination | Optional vaccination (*) |
Routine vaccinations: vaccinations provided primarily by municipalities
Optional vaccinations: Vaccinations that individuals can receive on their own request.
*If you have a resident registration in Minato Ward, you can receive a partial subsidy from the local government. For application procedures, please see Minato Ward's website.websitein advance.
Vaccination guide
Those aged 50 or older are usually required to receive the second vaccination two months after the first. If the two months have passed, you can receive the second vaccination within six months of the first vaccination.
Why you should get the shingles vaccine
Reason 1: If the condition worsens, hospitalization may be required.
Symptoms and pain levels vary from person to person, but if the condition becomes severe, it can interfere with daily life and may require hospitalization. Even after the symptoms subside, there is a risk of developing postherpetic neuralgia, which can cause long-term pain.
Reason ２: Incidence rate increases in the 50s, and thereafter increases with age.
It is said that about one in three people will develop shingles by the age of 80. Approximately 70% of patients are over 50 years old, but younger people can also develop the disease. (*1)
*1: Shiraki K. et al.: Open Forum Infect Dis. 4(1), ofx007, 2017
Reason ３: Vaccines can prevent approximately ９０% of cases
Shingrix is expected to be highly effective in preventing shingles, and its preventive effect is reported to be 97% in those over 50 years old and about 90% in those over 70 years old (*２). Vaccination is preventive, and even if it does occur, it can alleviate symptoms.
*２: Dry recombinant herpes zoster vaccine for intramuscular injection Singrix® Summary of major clinical trial results, etc.
Causes of Shingles
Shingles is an itchy, painful skin rash caused by the chickenpox virus.
Chickenpox typically develops in childhood, but even after recovery, the virus remains hidden in the body and is kept under control by the immune system.
Shingles occurs when the virus becomes reactivated when the immune system weakens in adulthood. It is said that more than 9% of Japanese people have the causative virus lurking in their bodies. Shingles is one disease to be wary of when the immune system is more likely to weaken due to aging, lifestyle-related diseases, stress, fatigue, seasonal changes, etc. (*3)
*3: Japanese Dermatological AssociationHerpes and shingles'
Frequently asked questions about the shingles vaccine
- Are there any side effects from the vaccination?
You may experience pain, swelling, and fever at the injection site, but these usually disappear within a few days.
- Is shingles contagious to people?
It cannot be transmitted to other people as shingles. However, it can be transmitted as chickenpox from someone who has had shingles to someone who has never had chickenpox. People with weakened immune systems are at risk of developing severe symptoms if infected, so please avoid contact with them.
- What are the early symptoms?
In many cases, you will feel an uncomfortable, tingling, or prickly pain in the skin of a certain area of your body. Eventually, a red rash will appear in that area, and then blisters will appear and break, causing the skin to become sore and scabbed. As the condition progresses, the pain may become so severe that it is impossible to sleep. Symptoms vary from person to person, with some people experiencing only mild pain and others suffering from pain so severe that they cannot sleep.
- Is there anything I should be careful about in my daily life?
Stress, illness, and a weakened immune system due to treatment can all trigger the onset of the disease, so it is important to maintain a strong immune system and take good care of your health on a daily basis.
- What should I do if symptoms appear?
Please see a doctor as soon as possible and start treatment. The most important thing is to suppress the proliferation of the virus and the pain as soon as possible.
