How long after shingles can I get vaccinated?

DEAR DR. ROACH »

I am 81 years old and was diagnosed with shingles in October. After taking famciclovir, I am healing, but still have a scaly rash and shooting pains on the right side of my head where the shingles occurred. I was told the pain could last for a year or more. Is this true? The initial outbreak was on my scalp, forehead, brow and eye area. I did see my ophthalmologist who said shingles did not get into my eye, just on my eyelid.

I saw my physician, who recommended I get the shingles vaccine in February 2021. My eye doctor said to wait six to nine months. What is the time span between the onset of shingles and the vaccine? How long does the vaccine protect someone?

DEAR READER » Both your doctors are right. In fact, the vaccine may be given at any time after the shingles lesions are healed (crusted over). Getting shingles again within a year is very unlikely, so it is fine to wait up to a year after the bout of shingles.

The length of protection seems to be long. But this is still a new vaccine, and it is unclear how long the protection will last.

No vaccine is perfect. Some people will get shingles despite getting the vaccine. But the vaccine is better at preventing the worst complication of shingles, persistent pain called postherpetic neuralgia. Trials have shown 89% to 100% protection against this terrible complication. In people in their 80s, it can indeed last up to a year or longer.

My 34-year-old son who has Crohn’s disease told me he is using pure 91% bottled alcohol to cleanse his hands because of coronavirus. He is being careful since he is being treated with Remicade. Is alcohol use safe? Doesn’t isopropyl alcohol get absorbed into the bloodstream? Could it poison him? Could it make his hands cracked and dry?

DEAR DR. ROACH »

— Anon.

DEAR READER » Hand sanitizers may be made from either isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or ethanol (the kind in alcoholic drinks). Both can be absorbed to some extent through the skin, but the amount absorbed through the hands is not enough to cause toxicity. However, using isopropyl alcohol as a fever reducer all over the body CAN cause enough absorption into the body to cause toxicity. It is not recommended.

Any alcohol can remove the skin’s natural protective layers and make the hands dry and susceptible to cracking. Rather than using plain alcohol, I recommend using a commercial hand sanitizer product that contains emollients to protect the hands. There are many brands.