For the past several years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been actively promoting the shingles vaccine as the solution to what some experts say is a building shingles epidemic. But a new study published in the German medical journal Der Hautarzt, or “The Dermatologist” in English, has revealed that the childhood vaccine for chicken pox, a common viral disease related to shingles, may actually be directly responsible for triggering this epidemic.
Also known clinically as varicella-zoster virus (VZV), chicken pox is a relatively mild form of herpes virus that typically manifests itself during the early childhood years. Nearly all children who develop the condition at a young age, in fact, never develop it again, and are also usually imparted with lifelong immunity to both VZV and its relative, herpes zoster, a more severe form of the disease commonly referred to as shingles.
According to the new study; however, getting vaccinated with the chicken pox vaccine, which first became commercially available in the U.S. back in 1995, could damage this natural immune cycle. Based on the available data, getting vaccinated for chicken pox may end up blocking the mechanisms the body uses to develop its own natural immunity to both chicken pox and shingles, causing much worse infection later on down the road.
A five-year-old girl, it turns out, was found recently to have developed severe symptoms of shingles not long after being vaccinated for chicken pox. Researchers from Helios Klinikum in Germany conducted a direct immunofluorescence assay on the child to look for evidence of the vaccine strain in the infection, and found that the vaccine strain had, indeed, caused the child to become infected with the much more severe shingles virus.
“This case demonstrates that a negative VZV direct immunofluorescence assay does not exclude an infection with the vaccine strain,” wrote the authors in their study abstract, which you can view here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23358727
Chicken pox vaccine prevents body from developing its own natural immunity to shingles
Adults, and particularly those who have not yet had the chicken pox, are said to be most prone to developing shingles, which is why the CDC and others are urging individuals over age 50 to get a shingles vaccine. But what this bloated bureaucracy is failing to disclose publicly is the fact that the sudden uptick in shingles cases is directly associated with the advent of the chicken pox vaccine.
People who were vaccinated for chicken pox as children beginning in the 1990s are now eclipsing into adulthood. Many of these children have never had the chicken pox, which means their bodies have never had the chance to develop natural immunity to both future infection with chicken pox and shingles. As a result, this chicken pox-vaccinated generation is not only seeing an increase in shingles infections rates, but is also shedding the virus onto others.
Back in 2005, Dr. Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D., the formed Editor-in-Chief of the charity Medical Veritas, published a study in the International Journal of Toxicology showing that even if the chicken pox vaccine did eradicate chicken pox as claimed, it would induce a much more severe shingles epidemic that would gradually build in intensity for up to 50 years. It now appears as though Dr. Goldman’s findings were, indeed, correct.
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IDK, my youngest had the Chicken Pox at age 2 in 1992, when her sister got it from school. She then had Shingles at age three, which her pediatrician labeled as Juvenile Shingles and said it was unrelated to the adult strain. She had another outbreak of Shingles at age 21 or 22. Diagnosed by a doctor once again. Funny thing is, even though I told them she’d had the Chickenpox, they still snuck in an immunization for the Chickenpox at age 41/2. I was livid. I’m not exactly sure where they are going with this, but she had her first outbreak after the actual Virus and before the vaccine and her second years after the vaccine. My oldest had the Chickenpox and hasn’t developed the Shingles yet. I have my own documented case study and it doesn’t jog with this one.
My daughter just developed this rash around her torso and back. She is 30, had a chicken pox vaccine in the late 90’s because she never had the c pox when her brothers had it. Now she thinks she has shingles. My son also had shingles at an early age before 10 years of age, and never had the vaccine, he was 2 years old when he had the chicken pox. Anyway, my daughter has been having other symptoms such as feeling pins and needles all over and feeling wet when she’s not. Any thoughts? Will be going to the doctors in the morning
I am fourteen and was given the chicken pox vaccine when i was young. I never got chicken pox yet when I was five they diagnosed me with shingles. I was also diagnosed when I was 8, 10, and 14 years old. The only explanation is that the chicken pox vaccine caused my shingles.
The shingles vaccine gave me shingles:
I had the singles vaccine (shot) at my doctors office on Tuesday morning Dec. 24, 2013. During the night of Dec. 29 ( 5 days later) I woke with itching on my torso and then went back to sleep. The next morning Dec. 30 I noticed a large area of blotchy raised red rash across my right front torso and across my right back almost to the spine. I called my doctor and was given an appointment that afternoon. The Doctor was shocked. He said I had shingles. He prescribed 7 days 3x daily of Valacyclovir 1GM tablets. He thinks since we got on top of it so early that it should last only about 2weeks. – Dec. 31 effected area has increases and much of area is now blistered – Jan 1, 2014 now I have a low grade fever and have been keeping calamine lotion on the rash & blisters. I have also been having a ear ache in my right ear ( I hope this is not related to the shingles).
I had been thinking about getting the vaccine for many years, and now that I did – the vaccine gave me singles!!!! I’m praying this isn’t the start of bigger problems singles can cause. I’m worried and concerned, but hoping for the best. (I am 65 yr. old female who is good health and take no prescription medicine).
My 20 month old was diagnosed today with shingles. She had a varicella vaccine exactly 2 months ago. 4 pediatricians looked at it before a dermatologist diagnosed her this morning. He said she’s the youngest case he’s ever seen and he said she got it from the vaccine. I’ve been trying to find any info I can about infants getting singles w/out having had chicken pox. in the meantime, this poor baby is so sick!!
I’m glad you haven’t witnessed any 17 year olds with shingles, especially after seeing what my daughter went through at that age. She was born in ’92, had mild case of chicken pox at age 1, and never had a vaccination. Three years later, after her shingles outbreak, she is still suffering from nerve pain in various parts of her body and was recently diagnosed with neuropathy by a neurologist, who recommended she get the shingles vaccine. I’m at a loss as to what to do about this. I never had chicken pox, even after numerous exposures as a child and as a mother. My mother, however, had shingles twice in life, the first time in her 30s. Ironically, an acquaintance of my daughter also had shingles at 17. Another interesting fact: the shingles appeared in the exact same area as the few chicken pox that did blister. Within 24 hours of the start of the shingles rash she was on Valtrex. Anybody?
oh my gosh, Lea. I can’t even imagine. I’m so sorry.
I got my daughter vaccinated back in 1998. Her doctor told me it would prevent her from getting shingles when she was older. 24 hours after she recieved the vaccine she got shingles. She was 5 years old at the time and she is now 19. That was the worst pain she’s been through in her life!
@Max: What is the matter with having a baby at age 46?
I have had shingles for 5 months and don’t know when it will go away. I am 68 and had chicken pox at 9. It is the most painful thing I have ever had and wish I knew how to make it better. My dr. says I should get the shingles shot when I am better so I dont get it again. Not sure I want to do that – afraid it will give me shingles. I know I got pnemonia when I got the shot so am leary of other shots.
Grniz70, Yes you can get shingles if you had the chicken pox. It doesn’t mean you will but you can’t get shingles without having had chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine.
This is not accurate. A person can get shingles when they have had “wild” chicken pox or after having the chicken pox vaccine. It lies dormant in our bodies and if it does develop it runs along nerve tracks. This means it can appear in different areas of the body, so the shingles is different on everyone. My mom had shingles along the inside of her leg. She was in her 60’s and my grandfather in his 80’s had it along the inside of his arm. They had it at different times from each other. I’m not sure I buy that there is a shingles epidemic. I have been a nurse for 29 years and I have seen few cases of shingles. This epidemic theory defies logic. I also know that in severe cases of shingles they start looking for cancer. This isn’t because these vaccines cause cancer. Shingles comes out of the dormant state when stress ensues. My grandfather did have cancer.I would also think that since the chicken pox vaccine was instituted in the US in 1995 that we would see a bunch of 17 year holds with shingles now. I haven’t seen that either. I think there is a lot of misinformation out there. Certainly there is a lot to distrust right now in the govt. but that doesn’t mean that there is a cover up here too. There is a lot of opinion in the articles I see but not a lot of facts from people who know the facts. We have to read with the eyes of common sense and not with eyes that tell us what we want to hear and see.
Who the hell has babies at age 46?
It’s so interesting that so many of the comments are cases of personal experience. I wonder what independent, peer-reviewed studies would say. I also wonder if the chicken pox vaccine has been studied or fast tracked? I also wonder why we are so quick to attack one another.
Peace.
Also my sisters shingles began at 22. She was never vaccinate and had chicken pox at 5 or 6.
“Chicken pox vaccine prevents body from developing its own natural immunity to shingles” The body doesn’t always develops a true immunity to any herpes, shingles, cold sore, ect. In these cases it is simply is able to suppress the herpes and keep it dormant but whether you get it naturally or from vaccine you always have it hiding in your body. Shingles IS the chicken pox virus, the exact same virus, not a different on. Since the body never develops a true immunity when other things stress your body it comes back and you get a rash. Fortunately you don’t get all the other symptoms. It makes perfect sense knowing this that some people could get shingles after being vaccinated, nothing surprising there. There are more people who have developed shingles who were NEVER vaccinated and caught it naturally then the number who get it after being vaccinated. Kind of hard to figure out why this is a newsworthy article since this is such old news.
I have never been vaccinated. Got a mild case of chickenpox at age 12. Had horribly painful shingles in my right forearm for 2-3 weeks at age 36 (2 years ago). I took nothing for it and AMAZINGLY I did not die. The reason I refuse vaccination & medication & GMOs (etc) is simple: ‘Epigenetic Transgenerstional Inheritance’ & ‘Endocrine Disrupting Compounds’. These two topics are at the heart of any valid anti-vax (anti-synthetic-chemicals) argument.
My Mother-in-law was quite upset when she got a very painful outbreak of shingles on her forehead. Her doctor had just talked her into getting the vaccine a few months before.
I dunno…just know that my elderly dad took the chicken pox vaccine along with a flu shot – he told the doc to give him any shots he could get- he really has always believed in immunizations – and it was not 2 months after that he started getting shingles. He has had them every few months since – including a painful bout of them on his eye.
I had a naturally occuring case of chicken pox at the age of 6 months. I later came down with shingles at the age of 7, and another mild case of the chicken pox at age 13. I agree that the dormant herpes virus can flare up later in life and lead to another case of chicken pox, or to shingles. I think some people are duped into thinking that having a natural case of chicken pox will lead to lifelong immunity against future cases or chicken pox and shingles. For me, that just wasn’t the case.
I had chicken pox when I was 16yrs. It was horrible, had them everywhere you could imagine, even in my esophagus, which made me very sick and nauseous constantly. Parents please expose your children when they are as young as you can. I never had a vaccine and have been told that because they were so bad that I could have very bad shingles when I get older. So I am a bit confused that people are posting that you may not get shingles if you have chicken pox before. What is the truth?
Linda, you proved yourself incorrect “It returns later as shingles” If your immune system is exposed to wild strains of zoster, then it is able to keep you from developing Shingles until much later. My mother developed shingles in her 60s and was in poor health. I developed shingles when I was in good health at 42.
Thanks for this comment. I was wondering about the possibility of shingles rec
curance.
I recently developed a mild case of shingles at age 46, and I happened to have a new baby who, while nursing, often touched the shingles legion on my chest (before I even knew what it was). Baby got the c pox from that which passed to my older two children and eventually to my husband (and how he had managed to avoid it until then seems pretty amazing to me!). Anyway, that is the story of how we were visited by the wild version of chicken
!
Oh, but they already HAVE a shingles vaccine! The posters at Walgreens are quite dramatic, showing what you can avoid if only you’ll pay the $32 and get vaccinated. So far I have resisted that temptation.
We have lots more senior citizens as a percentage of the population now, so we are highly likely to have more shingles for that reason alone. If you die in childbirth at 34, or were run over by a team of mules at 40, you were unlikely to have had shingles before you died.
Rubbish Deena! There has definitely been a huge increase in shingles….never used to hear about it much at all…………I have no doubt a pharmaceutical co will now come up with some magic vaccine or pill for shingles…..because they are soooooo smart and doing it only for our good (sarcasm if you haven’t noticed). Now go back to your boss and tell him ppl are not as easy to brainwash with your lies anymore….damn! lol
Incorrect! Shingles happens when the nerve ganglia is a cozy home for the herpes zoster virus which causes chickenpox. It returns later as shingles. I had chickenpox as naturally as it comes–caught from kids at school 59 years ago.
I am 65, had “wild” chickenpox, and after 5 flares of shingles, I will tell you that part of your theory is faulty. It’s generally thought that having a vaccination, not “wild” chickenpox, does not leave dormant herpes zoster in the nerve ganglia to return years later as shingles. Having shingles is the pits, and I escaped the deep nerve pain that so many people have. I suggest more research on the topic before deciding not to vaccinate. Shingles has cost me months of feeling truly awful and some pain to go with it.
In case you’re wondering, there are a number of us out here who have had shingles more than once.
I experienced the beginning stages of shingles after I had swine flu.I went to the health food store and bought some lysine and caught it before it got bad. I never had the vaccine and experienced chic pox as a child.
I had shingles at age 63 and it left me with permanent nerve damage. The pain is a constant part of my life. I’ve learned to live with it. Anything that can prevent this is certainly worth a try. The shingle vaccine was not yet available when I got it. I’m now 89 years old. Hope you never get shingles. The commercial is right on!
my youngest brother had the chicken pox, as well as myself and my other 2 brothers and young sister. only one of us ever developed shingles, my youngest brother, in his early 30s. both of his kids then developed chicken pox from him having shingles.
I am almost 50 years old, I had chickenpox as a child, the first time I had shingles was when I was 19 and pregnant. Since then have had them several times. Once I had the shingles vaccine I have not had bad shingles breakouts, I still have them but they do not last as long nor are they as painful. There are two others in my family who have had shingles and both of those had chickenpox as children. I have two children who have had the chickenpox vaccine and neither of them have had shingles. So in my family (10 members) it appears it is more likely to get shingles from chickenpox than the vaccine.
Shingles happens when your body isn’t naturally exposed to the chicken pox virus. Nature’s “booster” shot is being taken away by a completely unnecessary vaccine (which I don’t believe works anyway). We need the natural exposure!!!!!
I would let your family and friends know that you’d like to expose your 4th child to the chicken pox vaccine. Ask them to let you know if they hear of a case among their circles of friends & family. When we had the chicken pox here recently, we had several families over – some we had never met before!
I had chicken pox, should I be vaccinated for Shingles? My grandmother had shingles, though. I am 53.
My sons never received the chicken pox vaccine. Their cousins had chicken pox, when younger, and my older son was exposed to them, before we knew they actually had the chicken pox. He never developed chicken pox. My younger son was not thought of at that time, and has never come in contact with anyone who had it. I’m not sure if they have a natural immunity. Both of my parents did get shingles as over 50-adults. I’m on the fence about the shingles vaccine, since meeting a woman (customer at the store where I work) who had a severe case of shingles. She had to have her eyelid temporarily sewn shut! That scared me.
At the age of 28, I had shingles. It is not just elderly people getting it. I did have chicken pox as a kid and so my shingles was not due to the vaccine. However, I’ve heard a theory that suggest not being exposed to chicken pox through children does not give us that natural booster shot.
Thoughts?
The shingles epidemic is very real and is expected to last for at least 50 years. It affects both vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. The epidemic is caused by the chickenpox vaccine which reduced everyone’s abilty to be exposed to wild chickenpox (varicella). Regular exposure to wild chickenpox is necessary to boost antibodies to varicella thus keeping the immune system strong against reactivation as shingles. The same company that made the shingles vaccine also made the chickenpox vaccine that caused the shingles epidemic. Shingles causes 5 times as many hospitalizations and 3 times as many deaths as chickenpox.
Most cases of shingles occur in the elderly and it is doubtful many of them had the vaccine. The virus remains dormant in the body after a case of chicken pox and often returns as shingles during a health crisis or stressful situation (like cold sore do). I have 7 children and 3 of them developed a mild form of shingles during Kindergarten AFTER they had cases of chicken pox as infants–which they contracted from their older siblings outbreaks. They did not have the vaccine. My youngest, now16, did have the vaccine and could possibly get shingles. Some people do, but most most people do not or we would hear that everyone with chickenpox develops shingles. The jury is still out with the vaccine since the vast majority of those vaccinated are in their teens and younger. This seems like another scaremongering article. Some kids get a secondary encephalitis infection with a chickenpox outbreak that can be deadly. Is it common? No, but it happens. I probably would have let my youngest get the disease had I known anyone to make contact with but she needed it for school. I don’t know if there are other risks that take decades to determine, but you can get shingles from the virus that remains dormant after a case of chicken pox. And it can happen 50, 60 70 years later!
(for the record G.G. I gave my older children the chicken pox vax vaccinated but not my youngest). As for the so called epidemic, is it from the baby boomers reaching “shingles age”? I’d like to see a study that says shingles is breaking out amongst young adults vaccinated a decade ago- as the article suggests.
S.S. – non vaccinating mothers often bring their kids to chickenpox parties to expose their children to other sick kids’ germs. Or have them share lollipops.
So, I’m curious about something. I have 4 kids – the older 2 had chicken pox. And, MOST likely are now immune. GREAT! The 3rd was vaccinated before I gave it much consideration, and doc talked me into it. The 4th hasn’t, and won’t be, vaccinated. With most kids being vaccinated these days, how will he get exposed? Shouldn’t we desire him to get it while he is young and get it overwith? Curious what people’s thoughts are on this?
Excuse me. “Nearly all ” not “most “
I don’t find anything faulty with the statement.
For it is not a definate statement as it uses the word “most “.
It is in effect a true statement.
Because “most ” do in fact develop the immunity.
the article merely states a possible connection with the vaccine disrupting the immune cycle leading to a coresponding upswing in shingles since the vaccine was introduced.
But lucky for us, the drug companies have a nice new pill for that!
And judging by the number of times a day we have to watch that commercial every day recently, they seem more than willing to sell it to us.
And since lately I have to hear “chicken pox causes shingles ” about 50 times a day now, it would NEVER occur to me that they are trying real hard to propaganda us into believing that it’s the chicken pox that’s responsible for the probably near epidemic shingles problem we could possibly be reading about soon. And NOT their vaccine. So once they get the propaganda firmly planted, then they roll out the scare. Then they save the day with the vaccine AND the new pill. Wait… where have I heard this s**t before????
Maybe it’s because these are the same corperations that own and operate our government.
But you do parrot the commercial very well. GOOD JOB!!!!
Unfortunately, the whole premise of the article/study is based on one faulty statement. From the second paragraph:
“Nearly all children who develop [chickenpox] at a young age, in fact, never develop it again, and are also usually imparted with lifelong immunity to both VZV and its relative, herpes zoster, a more severe form of the disease commonly referred to as shingles.”
Like the vaccine, the chickenpox disease is the CAUSE of shingles.