Chemistry of Me 5.

4 Vaccines
The shingles vaccine is the vaccine I chose to study. I am interested in
this vaccine because two years ago, my 12 year old daughter had a case of
shingles. They told us there was a vaccine that would help lessen the
symptoms and shorten the duration of the disease, but it was not available
to anyone under 60 years old. This has given me the chance to find out why.
The virus which causes shingles is the varicella zoster virus, commonly
known as the chickenpox virus. Everyone who has had chickenpox has 10
-20% chance of having shingles later on in their life. The virus remains
dormant in the nervous system of the person and will reactivate when the
immune system is compromised in some way. When the virus is reactivated
it causes a blistery rash that runs along the nerves, unlike chickenpox that
are random blisters all over the body. These blister clusters itch and are very
painful. It can also cause a fever, headache and fatigue. The virus is also
very contagious, like the primary infection of chickenpox. It takes a couple of
weeks for the blisters to scab over and heal, but the pain and sensitivity
remains for longer. Total recovery time varies greatly. This virus is not life
threatening, but it is very painful and makes one miserable.
The Zostavax vaccine contains a weakened live varicella zoster
vaccine. The genome was first sequenced in 1986 and it was found to be a
linear duplex DNA molecule with 124,884 base pairs.
History of Shingles
People have been suffering from shingles for all of recorded history. In
the 18th and 19th Centuries, shingles was finally differentiated from smallpox
and other skin diseases that cause similar blisters. In the beginning of the
20th Century, the idea that shingles and chickenpox were caused by the same
virus first came to light. In 1953, the virus was finally isolated and it was
proven they were the same virus. In the 1940s, it was noticed that shingles
were more prevalent in older people than in children. In 1965, a paper was
written stating the hypothesis that adults who are exposed to children with
the chickenpox are less likely to have shingles later than those adults not
exposed to children with chickenpox. It was thought that being exposed to
chickenpox helped bolster the bodys immune system and build up immunity
to an outbreak of shingles. In 1995, the chickenpox vaccine, Varivax, was
approved by the FDA for use in children. In 2006, a more concentrated
version of the Varivax vaccine, Zostavax, was approved for use in people 50
or older to help prevent shingles outbreaks. This hypothesis about cases of

shingles being decreased by exposure to chickenpox makes me wonder if the

number of cases of shingles will increase because of decrease of chickenpox
due to the varicella vaccine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_zoster#History
http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/shingles-herpes-zoster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varicella_zoster_virus
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/basics/definition/con20019574
http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/z/zostavax/zostavax_ppi.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/vaccination.html
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/shingles/basics/symptoms/con-20019574
http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/shingles.html

Reflection
After reviewing the vaccination schedules, I realized there are a couple
vaccines my family is not current on. My husband and I need a tetanus shot
and my 11 year old is going to need is boosters before starting Jr. High.
There are some side effects to the shingles vaccine. They are similar to
all of the side effects I was warned about and experienced when my children
were vaccinated with the childhood vaccines: possible headache, fever,
hypersensitivity, and transmission of the disease to others. This vaccine is
not recommended for people under 50 because cases of shingles are not as
severe at younger ages.
Vaccines are recommended to help protect millions of people. Many of
the diseases we are vaccinated against are life threatening. We have all but
eradicated many of them, saving lives. I believe society, in general,
understands the importance and role of vaccinations. There are a few groups
who do not believe in or understand the role of vaccines. They are too
worried about the possible side effects, rather than the benefits of the

vaccines. People who have done their research will make an informed
decision about vaccines. Several people make their decisions based on
rumors or belief in political control. If more people understood vaccines, we
would have total eradicated some of these life-threatening diseases rather
than almost eradicating them.