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Wednesday, GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) revealed data from the ZOSTER-049 long-term follow-up phase 3 trial, which followed participants for up to approximately 11 years following initial vaccination with Shingrix (Recombinant Zoster Vaccine or RZV). The final trial data demonstrate that RZV has maintained efficacy against shingles in adults over 50 for over a decade. ZOSTER-049 included over 7,000 participants. The results from ZOSTER-049, an extension from two phase 3 clinical trials in adults aged 50 and over (ZOE-50 and ZOE-70), include: 79.7% vaccine efficacy (VE) in adults aged ≥50 cumulatively from year six to year 11 after vaccination. 82.0% VE in...

Calling for governments to enact a "global moratorium" on COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could have been a death sentence for a scientist's career not long ago. Now it opens the door to a prestigious science publisher. The Springer Nature medical journal Cureus, sibling to Nature and Scientific American, published a peer-reviewed paper by high-profile mRNA vaccine critics last month, showing the growing mainstream openness to data and arguments once nitpicked if not ignored by publishers and suppressed by academia and Big Tech. The feds have struggled to keep interest high in each new formulation of the COVID vaccines, with fewer than...

The continued — an increasingly curious — absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) from her duties in the upper chamber of Congress is becoming a growing thorn in the sides of the Democrats. Feinstein is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and her prolonged recovery from shingles has ground to a halt the Democrats’ ability to further pollute the judicial system with activist judges who have been nominated by Joe Biden’s puppeteers. Over the weekend, Matt wrote a VIP column about Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asserting that the Republicans on the committee not let Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer...

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is receiving treatment for shingles in a California hospital, Fox News Digital has confirmed. "I was diagnosed over the February recess with a case of shingles. I have been hospitalized and am receiving treatment in San Francisco." Feinstein's office shared. "I hope to return to the Senate later this month."

Mis- and disinformation have been prevalent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but in recent months anti-vax activists and conspiracy theorists have latched on to a new phrase to help their cause: “died suddenly.” Anti-vaxxers hoping to convince people that COVID vaccines are linked to sudden deaths among younger people have invoked the term while trying to exploit tragic events like the death of soccer journalist Grant Wahl, or Damar Hamlin suffering a cardiac arrest during an NFL game. Though that theory has no scientific evidence to support it, the “died suddenly” rhetoric has gained a lot of traction on social media....

A study demonstrated that shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is associated with an almost 30% higher long-term risk of a major cardiovascular event such a stroke or heart attack. "Our findings suggest there are long-term implications of shingles and highlight the importance of prevention," said Sharon Curhan, MD, ScM. Approximately 1 in 3 individuals will develop shingles in their lifetime, with more cases projected as the population ages and more people have compromised immunity due to disease or medication use. The most common complication from shingles is postherpetic neuralgia. This condition affects nerve fibers and skin, causing burning pain...

Scientists investigating why people who have had shingles are at a higher risk of stroke, now believe the answer lies within lipid vesicles called exosomes that shuttle proteins and genetic information between cells, according to new research. "Most people know about the painful rash associated with shingles, but they may not know that the risk of stroke is elevated for a year after infection," said Andrew Bubak, Ph.D. Researchers have found that shingles can also increase the risk of stroke especially for those under age 40 where the shingles vaccine is not typically recommended. The risk is greatest in people...

Got a Shingles vaccine today. 2 dose vaccine, 2-6 months apart. Recommended for ages 50+

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was aware early on that the COVID vaccines could spur viral reactivation of diseases like the varicella-zoster virus (shingles) in some people, but chose not to disclose it, according to renowned vaccinologist and physician Dr. Robert Malone. “They knew about the viral reactivation,” Malone declared during a recent panel discussion hosted by Del Bigtree with fellow Global COVID Summit physicians Dr. Ryan Cole, and Dr. Richard Urso. Malone, the original inventor of mRNA and DNA vaccination technology, explained that he had been “very actively engaged” with senior personnel at the FDA in the Office...

Herpes zoster reactivation -- a.k.a. shingles -- following COVID-19 vaccination in six patients with comorbid autoimmune/inflammatory diseases may be a new adverse event associated with the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine, suggested a new report. At two centers in Israel, there have been six cases of herpes zoster developing shortly after administration of the Pfizer vaccine in patients with disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis since December 2020, according to Victoria Furer, MD, of Tel Aviv University, and colleagues. Little has been known about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines among patients with rheumatic diseases, because immunosuppressed individuals were not included...

Treatment with arginine, one of the amino-acid building blocks of proteins, enhanced the effectiveness of radiation therapy in cancer patients with brain metastases. The study reported arginine, which can be delivered in oral form, prior to standard radiation therapy in 31 patients who had brain metastases. Nearly 78 percent had a complete or partial response in their brain tumors over the follow-up period of up to four years, while only 22 percent of the 32 patients who received a placebo prior to radiotherapy had such a response. The trial was designed to gauge the effectiveness of arginine as a "radiosensitizer"...

Experts in Israel found that patients with certain autoimmune diseases who received the Pfizer/BioNTech jab were more likely to develop the rash than those without the condition. Side effects can occur with any medication, including vaccines. They are always listed on the product information leaflet which comes with the medication. Most people who have a Covid jab won’t suffer any side effects but for those who have experienced them, the most common include pain at the site of injection and fatigue. Medics at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Carmel Medical Center in Haifa found that shingles was five...

Herpes infections may be a side effect of a COVID-19 vaccine, experts have revealed. Scientists in Israel identified six cases in a new study of patients developing a skin rash known as herpes zoster — or shingles — after receiving the Pfizer vaccine, according to a study in the Rheumatology journal. Herpes zoster starts off as a small, itchy skin rash, but if left untreated, it could cause nerve damage and pain, the Jerusalem Post reported. This can include a prolonged burning sensation on the skin even after the rash disappears.

I got my flu shot, I got my pneumonia shot, I'll get that shingles shot one of these days....

I've recently been introduced to the shingles experience.And let me be the first to say, it's an experience nobody should have.I've been introduced to entirely new universes of pain, universes I could never have imagined before. Then, the devil his own self stalks you at night.

As the lockdown continues across the world, pharmaceutical companies are accelerating their efforts to provide a vaccine to prevent the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, Moderna, the company which has gained prominence in news headlines for developing Mrna-1273 vaccine to fight the disease, uses cells of aborted babies. Although alternatives exist which could be considered morally acceptable, they are not getting as much coverage as Moderna’s vaccine work. Suspicions about the vaccine were raised after checking Moderna’s patents and in particular, the use of the Spike (S) protein. The idea behind using this Spike protein in a vaccine with messenger...

Brother just got the shingles (high stress life caught up to him). It's limited to a small area but it smarts a lot. Once it clears up (weeks? months?), he's thinking of getting the latest vaccine (me too). Has anyone taken it? Any advice on how he can get through this?

There’s no shortage of anti-vaxxer’s at FR. I was wondering what their opinion is of taking a vaccine for an old-folks malady?

With its burning grip, shingles can do lasting damage When varicella zoster reawakens, it wreaks a surprising amount of havoc in the bodyAt age 37, Hope Hartman developed a painful, burning rash in her right ear, in the part “you would clean with a Q-tip,” the Denver resident says. The pain got so bad she went to a local emergency room, where the staff was flummoxed. Hartman was admitted to the hospital, where she started to lose sensation on the right side of her face. During that 2013 health crisis, Hartman’s husband, Mike, sent a picture of the ear to...

Just wanted to get some feedback from experienced shingle sufferers and those who have opted for the vaccine. For the record, I got the first of a series of two shots a couple of weeks ago. More lingering soreness than with just about any other vaccine. Any reactions or did anyone suffer from shingles anyway?