Shingles vaccine gets qualified 'yes'
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health advisers endorsed a proposed vaccine on Thursday to help battle an often-excruciating disease that afflicts as many as 1 million adults every year.
The Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel on vaccines said the vaccine for shingles appeared to be safe and effective in people aged 60 and older. [...]
Next, I hope they come up with a better name for the disease. "Shingles" just sounds too much like, well, like shingles. You expect to see someone walking down the street with big square hunks of slate or cedar hung on them. Might as well be stricken with the drapes, or afflicted by the shrubs, or tormented by the clapboards. It's a horrible, itchy, painful, blistery, crusty, scabby sort of disease that really needs something that adequately describes how bad it is.
Obviously, my suggestion is they call it Howard Dean.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at December 15, 2005 04:26 PMShingles certainly made my mother's last couple of years miserable. And there was nearly nothing anyone could do to help her.
Posted by: Janis at December 15, 2005 04:30 PMMy poor Pops-inlaw had it pretty bad and it found its way to his eyes. Thankfully, there are treatments nowadays that can stop it, but he was miserable for weeks on end with it. And thankfully he is over it now.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at December 15, 2005 04:37 PM