IN HR0055

Designates August as "Shingles Awareness and Improvement Month" in Indiana to increase public awareness of adult vaccination against shingles.

Identifies shingles as a viral infection caused by the same virus as chickenpox, affecting approximately 1 million Americans annually with nearly one in three people contracting it during their lifetime.

Notes that 20 percent of shingles patients develop postherpetic neuralgia, a debilitating complication causing severe chronic pain, and the annual economic burden ranges from $782 million to $5 billion.

Directs the Indiana Department of Health to promote the awareness month through healthcare practitioner outreach and public education programs on adult vaccination according to CDC and ACIP recommendations.

Reports that as of 2015, only 30 percent of eligible adults 50 years and older had received the shingles vaccine despite CDC and ACIP recommendations for all healthy adults in that age group.