[First Reprint]

SENATE RESOLUTION No. 70

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED APRIL 5, 2018

Sponsored by:

Senator  ROBERT W. SINGER

District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senator A.R.Bucco

SYNOPSIS

     Encourages people aged 50 or older to receive shingles vaccine.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on October 15, 2018, with amendments.

A Senate Resolution encouraging people ¹[fifty years and] aged 50 or¹ older to ¹[get] receive¹ the shingles vaccine.

Whereas, Shingles is a painful skin rash caused by reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox, which stays dormant in the body after recovery from chickenpox; and

Whereas,  Anyone who has recovered from chickenpox may develop shingles, and though it is unclear why the virus reactivates, the risk of the virus reactivating and causing shingles significantly increases with age; and

Whereas, The rash, consisting of blisters that typically scab in ¹[7] seven¹ to ¹[ten]10¹ days and take ¹[2] two¹ to ¹[4] four¹ weeks to clear ¹[up]¹, usually occurs in a single stripe around one side of the face or body; and

Whereas, Even after the rash clears ¹[up]¹, ¹the¹ complications of shingles cause more than ¹[ten]10¹ percent of adults to experience long-term pain in the areas where the rash was and can take weeks or months to subside; and

Whereas, Almost all adults are at risk of ¹[getting] contracting¹ shingles as studies show that more than ¹[ninety-nine] 99¹ percent of Americans ¹[forty years and older had] aged 40 or older have contracted¹ chickenpox; and

Whereas, Although contact with ¹the¹ fluid from shingles blisters can cause chickenpox in someone who ¹has¹ never ¹[had] contracted¹ chickenpox or ¹[a] received the¹ chickenpox vaccine, shingles cannot be ¹[passed] transmitted¹ from one person to another; and

Whereas, Nevertheless, nearly ¹[1 out of 3] one in three¹ people in the United States will ¹[get] contract¹ shingles as a result of the dormant virus in their body reactivating, and there are an estimated ¹[1] one¹ million cases of shingles each year in the United States; and

Whereas, The most effective way to reduce the risk of developing shingles is to ¹[get] be¹ vaccinated; and

Whereas, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults ¹[fifty years and older get] aged 50 or older receive¹ two doses of the shingles vaccine, ¹[2 to 6] spaced two to six¹ months apart, to prevent ¹[against]¹ the risk of shingles and ¹its¹ complications ¹[caused by shingles]¹; and

Whereas, Two doses of the recommended vaccine is ¹[ninety-seven] 97¹ percent effective ¹[at] in¹ preventing shingles in adults between ¹[fifty and sixty-nine years old] the ages of 50 and 69¹; and

Whereas, In adults ¹[age seventy years and older] aged 70 or older¹ the vaccine is more than ¹[ninety] 90¹ percent effective ¹[at] in¹ preventing shingles and ¹[stays] remains¹ more than ¹[eighty-five] 85¹ percent effective for at least the first ¹[4] four¹ years ¹[after getting vaccinated] following the individual’s vaccination¹; and

Whereas, More than ¹[a] one-¹ third of New Jersey’s approximately ¹[9] nine¹ million residents are over the age of ¹[fifty] 50¹; and

Whereas, It is fitting and proper for this House to promote a healthy society by ¹[spreading] increasing¹ awareness of shingles and encouraging ¹[appropriate]¹ adults to ¹[get] receive¹ the shingles vaccine ¹when medically appropriate¹; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:

     1.    This House encourages people ¹[fifty years and older] aged 50 or older¹ to ¹[get] receive¹ the shingles vaccine, as medically appropriate.

     2.    Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the New Jersey Department of Health and AARP New Jersey.