Can You Get Chemo If You Have Shingles

Your risk of shingles and postherpetic neuralgia phn increases as you get older.

Can you get chemo if you have shingles.

Cdc recommends that people 60 years old and older get shingles vaccine zostavax to prevent shingles and phn. There are many stressors that can cause a shingles outbreak including chemo stress cancer broken bones etc. A shingles vaccine approved for u s. There is no specific length of time that you need to wait after having shingles before you can receive shingrix but generally you should make sure the shingles rash has gone away before getting vaccinated.

Thus shingles can often be a side effect of cancer therapies and in severe cases it can seriously compromise the wellbeing of the patient. If you have shingles right now you should wait until the rash is gone before you get vaccinated. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. Radiation or chemotherapy can lower your resistance to diseases and may trigger shingles.

As a result patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy or radiation therapy or patients with leukemia or lymphoma affecting the bone marrow or lymphatics could not receive the shingles. If you had shingles in the past you can get shingrix to help prevent future occurrences of the disease. Do hope you get it sorted chemo is bad enough without that on top. Shingrix vaccine for compromised immune systems if you re an adult over age 50 receiving chemotherapy for cancer you can now take steps to cut your risk for shingles a painful infection caused by the same virus as the chicken pox.

My onc said he had seen a few cases of shingles on chemo its because your immune system has dropped thus triggering off the virus which we have lying dormant in our body after having chicken poxs. I had shingles right before i was diagnosed in 2009. The sooner that you get on valtrex the less likely you are to experience postherpetic neuralgia. Use in 2017 does not use a live form of the virus and may be safe for people with weakened immune systems including those receiving chemotherapy the.

Secondary infections and certain drugs such as those administered during cancer chemotherapy can both cause a person to become immunocompromised as can high doses of radiotherapy. You can get shingrix whether or not you remember having had chickenpox in the past. Some experts estimate that half the people age 80 and older will have shingles. Diseases that weaken your immune system such as hiv aids and cancer can increase your risk of shingles.

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