New Shingles Vaccine available at Naval Hospital Jacksonville

Photo By Jacob Sippel | JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 22, 2018) Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Luis Echevarria draws up the shingles vaccine. Almost one out of every three people in the U.S. will develop shingles during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthy adults, age 50 and up, should get the new vaccine even if they’ve had shingles, received the old vaccine, or aren’t sure if they’ve had chickenpox. (U.S. Navy photo by Jacob Sippel, Naval Hospital Jacksonville/Released).  

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES

03.06.2018

Story by Yan Kennon 

Naval Hospital Jacksonville

The Immunization Clinics at Naval Hospital Jacksonville (its hospital and branch health clinics) now offer a new shingles vaccine to patients.

Almost one out of every three people in the U.S. will develop shingles during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Healthy adults, age 50 and up, should get the new vaccine even if they’ve had shingles, received the old vaccine, or aren’t sure if they’ve had chickenpox.

Shingles is a painful rash that usually develops on one side of the body, often the face or torso. It consists of blisters that typically scab over in seven to 10 days, and clear up within two to four weeks. Some people develop long-lasting pain for months, or even years, after the rash goes away.

The new shingles vaccine is the vaccine preferred by the CDC and was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2017. It’s two doses, two to six months apart, given as a shot in the upper arm. The new vaccine provides strong protection (more than 90 percent effective) against shingles and its complications.

Most people who develop shingles have only one episode during their lifetime; however, a second or even a third episode can occur.

There is a greater risk of getting shingles for some people. This includes people who have medical conditions that keep immune systems from working properly (such as certain cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, or human immunodeficiency virus) or take immunosuppressive drugs, such as steroids after organ transplants.

For more information, stop by or call the Immunizations Clinic at 904-542-7810 (hospital) or 904-546-7050 (Branch Health Clinic Jacksonville – active duty), or visit CDC at www.cdc.gov/shingles.

NH Jacksonville’s priority since its founding in 1941 is to heal the nation's heroes and their families. The command is comprised of the Navy’s third largest hospital and five branch health clinics across Florida and Georgia. Of its patient population (163,000 active and retired sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen, guardsmen, and their families), about 84,000 are enrolled with a primary care manager and Medical Home Port team at one of its facilities. To find out more or download the command’s mobile app, visit www.med.navy.mil/sites/navalhospitaljax.

• Date Taken: 03.06.2018
• Date Posted: 03.06.2018 11:12
• Story ID: 268266
• Location: JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US