Quote:
Originally Posted by villages07
Actually, PL, as an old math major it reduces your risk by a third or 33% if it indeed is the difference between 3% and 2%.
I'd like to see a link to those statistics. I sure seem to run into a lot of people who have suffered with it.
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That's true. I was thinking of it as 1 less out of a hundred, one being 1% of one hundred. So, if it went from 2 out of 100 to 1 you'd have a 50% reduction in risk. It's a big percentage but 2 out of 100 doesn't seem to be that big of a risk. Perhaps it is.
I can't give a link because I was just repeating what my doctor told me. Perhaps he was basing it on the fact that I told him I didn't remember having chicken pox as a child. Blisters all over my body? I'm sure I would have remembered that. I remember having the mumps.
However, I did do a search: "shingles risk with and without a vaccination"
That search brought me to "About.com" where I found some interesting information.
1) Shingles occurs in about 20% of people who have had chicken pox.
2) Risk for recurrance of shingles: Shingles can recur, but the risk is low (1-5%)
Also it said that most cases of shingles are mild.
My grandparents didn't get shingles and my parents didn't either. None of my aunts, uncles and their spouces had it (a total of 22). The only two I can remember having it is my cousin's wife. I think she got it after having chemotherapy because her immune system was impaired. And there was one blood relative who got shingles. I believe it was brought on by the stress of being a caregiver.