Please Note: Due to volume considerations, not all questions can be answered. Questions most likely to be answered will be those of general interest to a broad group of visitors to this forum. Questions pertaining to a specific case; requests for diagnosis, medical advice, or second opinion; or requests for opinions about untested alternative therapies will generally not be answered.
The participation of Dr. Graeme Moyle in this Forum is made possible by Gilead Sciences.
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Shingles vaccine and Meds
Apr 27, 2008
Hello and thanks for all the valuable information.
I'm taking Atripla - cd's are 550 and no viral load - positive for 20 years - meds for last 18 months.
I'm in great shape, running, cycling and working out.
Two of my 7 siblings and my father have all had shingles - very painful and lingering. My insurance offers me the new shingles vaccine at age 60 - this summer. My G.P. recommended that I get it, but my infectious disease doctor said "No way!"
Your thoughts?
Thanks, John H
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Response from Dr. Moyle
In immunocompromised persons, including patients with advanced HIV infection, varicella (shingles) vaccination is currently contraindicated for fear of disseminated vaccine-induced disease. Vaccine safety is however being evaluated in asymptomatic HIV-infected children with CD4 counts of more than 1000, and a killed varicella vaccine has been studied in varicalla-positive bone marrow transplant patients where a multiple-dose schedule has been shown to reduce the severity of zoster.
Your HIV cannot be considered 'advanced' based on your CD4 count but a killed vaccine would certainly be preferred if possible. Most likely you would make a reasonable protective response to the vaccine
Hope this helps
Kind regards
Graeme Moyle
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