shingles vaccination

[mickimauser11]

when you had shingles ( not bad) should you get vaccinated? And when?

[CLLerinOz Administrator]

This is the CDC advice:

"If you had shingles in the past, Shingrix can help prevent future occurrences of the disease. There is no specific length of time that you need to wait after having shingles before you can receive Shingrix, but generally you should make sure the shingles rash has gone away before getting vaccinated."

cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingl...

[BluMts]

Yes, get the Shingrex vaccine,not the other one. CLLerin Oz reply is useful.

[larrymarion]

Definitely get the shingrix as soon as your shingles have subsided and when treatment ends.

one other key caution--several anti CLL treatments, like ibrutinib, reduce our ability to make antibodies after getting a vaccine.

Or, to put it simply, my shingrex vaccines failed to protect me because i was taking ibrutinib at the time. Got a bad case of shingles several years after stopping ibrutinib. And after i recovered from shingles, my hemocs urged me to get another round of shingrex. he had done some research that indicated the BTKi inhibited shingles antibodies, but since i was off treatment and uMRD it made sense to get a new round of shingrix.

Note that the insurance companies won't reimburse you for the second set of shingrix shots. my hemoc sent letters with research showing the ibrutinib blocking issue, etc. and the insurance company still refused.

You may have heard that ibrutinib, rituximab, obinituximab, and other anti CLL drugs inhibited our bodies from developing anti COVID antibodies after getting the vaccines? Some phenomenon involved with shingrix triggering shingles antibody development.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to larrymarion]

With respect to your last paragraph, CLL treatments kill off healthy B cells as well as CLL cells. Since healthy B cells normally develop into the antibody producing plasma cells, all vaccinations during and after treatment don't produce much in the way of antibodies, though T cell responses have a better chance of occurring. We are unlikely to produce antibodies for a year or more after anti-CD infusions, such as rituximab, obinituzumab and ofatumumab. That's because these monoclonal antibodies stay in circulation in out blood, wiping out new B cells until all the monoclonal antibody is used up.

Neil

[larrymarion in reply to AussieNeil]

Neil, thanks so much for the clarifications, explanations, and corrections. really appreciated by all of us, not just me!

[mickimauser11 in reply to AussieNeil]

True Im 19 months past Obinutuzumab and 8 months past Venetoclax vaccination in June showed very few antibodies it can take up to 2 years for B cells to recover I had shingles during Venetoclax treatment about a year ago mildly however but Im thinking now about vaccination shingles is missing the other vaccinations I had prior to retreatment thank you for answering