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How a childhood virus can contribute to dementia later and what you can do
(www.washingtonpost.com)
this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2025
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yes it hasnt been approved for anyone under 50+, hence not tested for . people who get it under 50, you wouldnt know the benefits of it if you get shingles later on. i like how the sub for shingles, people are reporting shingles frequently, i would probably say they are having some other reaction or hsv1 rather than multiple infections. thier symptoms just dont follow those of shingles.(that sub has quite alot of misinformation about shingles)
also insurance doesnt cover it, because it hasnt been tested for <50yos, so its quite expensive, besides the resistance from the insurance, pharmacies and doctors might refuse it too for the same reasons.
most likely its shingles induced meningitis or encephalitis that would cause dementia like symptoms.
shingles is much more severe the older you are, or immunocompromised. eventhough my shingles rash was quite small, because of the severe stress it seems to cause more damage than normal, it reached my spine, plus caused stiffness and backpain. and the scars, and nerve damage.(it went through the whole blistering and bursting stage, since i dint get to a doctor in time.
Ow, that sounds awful! I'm sorry you went through that.
I think I get it now. It hasn't been tested for under 50 year olds because there's no real reason to get vaccinated if you have a healthy immune system, right? You just wouldn't get it.
I was wondering if there was some known harm caused by the dead virus vaccine, but it doesn't seem like it. Like, if you get shingles, it's because the virus is already hanging out in you, so it's not like measles where the virus is introduced for the first time to prep your system. Prepping for shingles doesn't make sense unless there's a reason to think your immune system will fail. The virus is already there.
I think it helps me get it to think of the group who gets vaccinated as entirely people who are immunocompromised. 50+ is just a category inherently part of that group. If I got vaccinated now, it would serve zero purpose.
Thanks for your answer! I hope you never have to deal with shingles ever again.
allegedly, people in that shingle sub said they got it under 50, for at least one guy it triggered some inflammation that damaged his "oats" temporarily, and another triggered shingles anyways. theres too much misinformation about taking it under 50. im guessing the stronger immune response would cause more inflammation than it useful, and since theres isnt really that much studies for under 50, you still can get shingles anyways. for 50+ the older you are, the more severe it is, so the shingles help reduce that effect, just dont know for people under 50, as the mentioned side effects. unless you are immunocompromised already, your provider/insurance wont reccomend at all. i think thats probably the only instance of getting under 50.