France in Focus

Anybody had the anti-shingles (zona) jab in France?

Sadly no, but I recommend you get it if offered.

Shingles is not very nice and will disrupt your life. The pain is really not to be enjoyed.

Thank you exile, I have to see the doc at the end of next week so will ask.

I had chicken pox and measles when I was very young, but I was diagnosed with mild shingles when I was about 11. Although it wasn't painful, the raw patches on my torso were extremely itchy and uncomfortable. Both my parents had shingles and as Exile says, it's painful.

I've heard that if you've had shingles once you are unlikely to get it again but if you know your immune system is dodgy, as mine is, I would definitely go for the jab if offered.

Edited to add "chicken pox".

Measles and shingles aren’t related. It’s chicken pox that is linked

Ooops, I meant chicken pox, thanks Pathca (I've edited my original post) ! My mother had chicken pox in her twenties after we all caught it at school and it wasn't pleasant. Getting shingles years later was not pleasant for her.

My husband and I have both had the shingles jab in the UK. He had shingles many years ago and was really in pain - apparently it was too late for him to have treatment according to the GP who visited our home.

The headteacher at a school I taught at had shingles close to an eye and on his scalp - he was absent for a long time and later said it was much more painful than anything he’d ever suffered from in the boxing ring or in the war; he had been a pretty handy boxer in his time.

I had it a couple of years ago, doctor gave me prescription for it. I got the impression, maybe wrong, that after a certain age it was recommended and gratis.

Blaze wrote: ↑Sat Aug 12, 2023 8:46 am I had chicken pox and measles when I was very young, but I was diagnosed with mild shingles when I was about 11.

That's a coincidence, I also had shingles as a girl. I remember it being horrendously prickly. I couldn't bear clothes against the affected area.