And it is not a luxury to provide this treatment free of charge to some 800,000 people suffering from this very painful disease, according to several speakers who spoke to Noovo Info. The investment will be timely for all those people who must pay the cost of the vaccine out of pocket until the program is in place – although some may turn to their private drug insurance plan.
In addition to the very debilitating physical impact of shingles, the disease currently has an impact on the wallet of those who have it, but whose insurance does not cover vaccination: the administration of the two doses prescriptions cost around $300 at some pharmacies these days.
When we know that approximately one in three people will be affected by shingles in their lifetime, we therefore calculate that the implementation of the free vaccination program for shingles by the Quebec government might change the lives of many people, according to Dr. Caroline Marcoux-Huard, head of the public health department and medical specialist in public health and preventive medicine at CIUSSS of Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec.
Shingles is ‘very painful’
To understand the scope of this investment from Quebec, one must understand the nature of the shingles disease.
“Shingles is a virus from the large family of herpes viruses,” explained Dr. Caroline Marcoux-Huard in an interview with Noovo Info.
The shingles virus is the same virus that causes chickenpox. “That’s the basis, by the way; you must already have been infected with chickenpox for the shingles virus to develop later,” she adds.
Dr. Marcoux-Huard explains that when the virus first infects a person, chickenpox develops. The virus then lodges in nerve ganglia and enters a dormant stage. The virus can reactivate in some people following a few years.
“The moment there is a reactivation, people are going to feel a burning sensation or pain, tingling and following a few days we will see a rash,” she explains.
The shingles will then follow a nerve band at the level of the skin, the dermatome. It is very painful”.
“People [qui souffrent du zona] often do not even tolerate a garment on their skin.”
– Dr. Caroline Marcoux-Huard
Some people who have had shingles also continue to feel pain long following the rash has disappeared.
“It’s post-herpetic neuralgia. This can last for months or even years. It can be very incapacitating in people. It is estimated that it affects regarding 20% of people with shingles,” says Dr. Marcoux-Huard.
According to data from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), it is estimated that in Quebec each year there are approximately 27,000 cases of shingles, 600 hospitalizations and 10 deaths caused by the disease. The majority of deaths (80%) occur in people aged 80 and over.
Dr. Caroline Marcoux-Huard indicates that there are several risk factors linked to the reactivation of the virus leading to shingles, the main one being the weakening of the immune system. Age is another.
“We are seeing an increase in shingles cases among people aged 50 and over. The severity of shingles is also greater in older people,” says Dr. Marcoux-Huard.
Doctors see cases of shingles in the youngest – although rather rare – usually brought on by episodes of great stress, anxiety or fatigue.
Also to be read : The risk of shingles would increase following a COVID-19 infection
The effectiveness of the shingles vaccine
Dr. Marcoux-Huard suggests that people with shingles talk to their doctor or pharmacist to make an informed choice regarding vaccination, the effectiveness of which, however, no longer needs to be proven.
“The shingles vaccine is 90% effective for prevention and 90% effective once morest post-herpetic neuralgia over several years. It’s an interesting option to consider,” she believes.
Dr. Marcoux-Huard also points out that the varicella vaccination, offered to toddlers, “is a vaccine that will ultimately have an impact on the development of shingles”.
“It reduces the risk that future generations, who will have been vaccinated, will develop shingles,” she says.
“Good news” according to the FADOQ
The FADOQ network has been calling for free shingles vaccination for years and is therefore delighted with the commitment made by the Quebec government.
“This is excellent news,” says Gisèle Tassé-Goodman, president of Réseau FADOQ.
As soon as information began to filter on this subject, the FADOQ received testimonies, requests for information, she reports. “There is a craze already.”
At the time of writing these lines, it was not known when people will be able to claim the vaccine for free and which clientele will be targeted by this free access. All that the Government of Quebec has announced so far is that it has set aside $124.6 million for this purpose in its fiscal year for the fiscal year that is beginning.
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A long-standing battle
In August 2010, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) asked theNational Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) a notice from the Quebec Immunization Committee (CIQ) on the relevance of including vaccination once morest shingles in the Quebec immunization program (PQI).
In December 2017, the members of the CIQ unanimously recommended the establishment of a vaccination program once morest shingles according to a certain order of priority including, among others, immunocompromised people aged 50 and over and people aged 65 and over.
Two vaccines are available in Canada: the live attenuated shingles vaccine Zostavax licensed in 2008 and the subunit vaccine Shingrix licensed in October 2017. “Both vaccines are safe and effective in reducing the incidence of shingles and NPH” , according to the INSPQ.
The shingles vaccine elsewhere in Canada
In Canada, the province of Ontario has a free shingles vaccination program. Introduced in January 2017it targets people aged 65 to 70.
Since January 2022, the shingles vaccine has been offered free of charge for the elders of Prince Edward Island.
The Yukon also offers the shingles vaccine to several age groups.
Earlier this month, a group of doctors called on the Alberta government to make the shingles vaccine free to people over 50. Alberta Medicare only covers the shingles vaccine for people over 18 who have had an organ transplant.
With information from The Canadian Press
