- With Mayo Clinic internist
James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
James Steckelberg, M.D.
Dr. James Steckelberg is a consultant in the Division of Infectious Diseases and a professor of medicine at Mayo Medical School.
A native of Fremont, Neb., Dr. Steckelberg was a Rhodes Scholar and graduated from the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine as a resident in internal medicine and a fellow in infectious diseases, and is board certified in both. He is the former director of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Steckelberg belongs to numerous professional organizations. He is a founding member of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society and a fellow of the American College of Physicians and of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He has served on many Mayo Clinic committees and is a member of the Department of Medicine Leadership Committee and of the executive committee of the Division of Infectious Diseases. He also served on the editorial boards of "Mayo Clinic Proceedings" and "Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy" and has been an editorial reviewer for more than a dozen publications.
Dr. Steckelberg's research interests include experimental models of infection, epidemiology of infection, and antimicrobial resistance and therapy of bacterial infections.
Risk factors (1)
- Shingles vaccine: Can I transmit the vaccine virus to others?
Treatments and drugs (1)
- Shingles treatment: Does alcohol use affect therapy?
Prevention (1)
- Shingles vaccine: Should I get it?
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Question
Shingles vaccine: Can I transmit the vaccine virus to others?
When I got the shingles vaccine last week, my doctor said I should stay away from my pregnant daughter-in-law and my grandchildren. Can you tell me why?
Answer
from James M. Steckelberg, M.D.
The virus that causes shingles — varicella-zoster virus — is also the virus that causes chickenpox. But the shingles vaccine, for people age 60 and older, is not the same as the childhood vaccine to prevent chickenpox.
Your doctor's concern about your daughter-in-law and grandchildren may stem from reports of rare cases in which people with no immunity to chickenpox — meaning they've never had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine — have caught varicella-zoster virus from recently vaccinated children.
That hasn't happened in years of testing and experience with the shingles vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in normal circumstances, it's unnecessary to avoid pregnant women and unvaccinated children after you get the shingles vaccine.
To develop shingles, you have to catch chickenpox first, which typically happens in childhood. When you get over chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus stays in your body but remains dormant, often for many years and possibly for life. As you age, though, there's an increasing risk that the virus will reactivate, resulting in shingles.
If you develop a rash after you get the shingles vaccine, take the precaution of keeping the rash covered until all the bumps crust over.
Next questionShingles treatment: Does alcohol use affect therapy?
- Zostavax (prescribing information). White House Station, N.J.: Merck & Co., Inc.; 2009. http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/z/zostavax/zostavax_pi.pdf. Accessed Feb. 23, 2010.
- Varavax (prescribing information). White House Station, N.J.: Merck & Co., Inc.; 2009. http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/v/varivax/varivax_pi.pdf. Accessed Feb. 23, 2010.
- Sampathkumar P, et al. Herpes zoster (shingles) and postherpetic neuralgia. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2009;84:274.
- Herpes zoster (shingles) — Vaccine Q&As for providers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/vac-faqs-hcp.htm. Accessed Feb. 23, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on