Have you ever had shingles?  I have and I hope I never have them again.
From the inside of my left leg from about the groin area to the knee it
looked and felt as if someone had poured boiling water there.  There was no
scarring but some residual pain still reminds me of it -- and that was about
four years ago.  The doctor told it was the result of severe nerve damage.
The virus is the same as the chicken pox virus; if you've never had chicken
pox you'll never have shingles.  At least that what I was told.  Then I
started to hear that under unusual conditions shingles may be communicable,
although I don't think a person gets shingles first and then chicken pox
later.  I also heard that one episode does not immunize a person from a
second bout, but the probability is very slight.

My doctor told me that if I had contacted him as soon as I noticed the
irritation a steroid injection often minimized the damage, but I didn't
realize that the reddening was any more than a mild allergic reaction like
hives.

Anyway, if you're offered the opportunity to get shingles I suggest you
decline.  If this new vaccination is effective, and especially if you're a
young person who has had chicken pox, give it thoughtful consideration.

Ken Bland

I had shingles as did my mother and two co-workers all within a year of
each other and not one of us contemplated suicide.  One guy had it all
over his head and face (and one eye), my mom had it on her back, and I
had it starting on the left kidney area of my back with migration down
into the crotch area and forward with a minor inroad on the underside
of little Willie. I know there are cases where the neuralgia can be
severe and can last years if not a lifetime but the large majority of
cases come and go with no lasting effects.  I suppose a vaccine of some
type would be useful but we're not talking polio here.
Dave Perry