Shingles vaccine cut zoster by about half
In older US adults, herpes zoster vaccination showed ~48% effectiveness against incident zoster and ~59–62% against post-herpetic neuralgia.
Source
Herpes zoster vaccine effectiveness against incident herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia in an older US population: a cohort study
What they did
A cohort of 766,330 eligible older Medicare beneficiaries was followed for zoster vaccination and incident herpes zoster/PHN, estimating adjusted vaccine effectiveness.
What they found
Overall VE ~48% against incident zoster; 62% against PHN at 30 days and 59% at 90 days; uptake was only 3.9% and lower in Black and low-income groups.
The limits
What it doesn't show
Randomized efficacy in this dataset, or precise VE in highly immunosuppressed subgroups (small numbers).
Key terms
- Vaccine effectiveness (VE)
- Real-world reduction in disease among vaccinated vs unvaccinated.
- Herpes zoster
- Shingles—reactivation of varicella-zoster virus.
- PHN
- Post-herpetic neuralgia—persistent pain after zoster.
- Medicare cohort
- Older US beneficiaries followed in administrative claims.
- Immunosuppression
- Weakened immunity that raises zoster risk and complicates VE estimates.
- Uptake disparity
- Lower vaccination rates in older, Black, or low-income groups.
Flashcards
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Quiz yourself
Overall VE against incident zoster:
Common questions
What was overall VE against zoster?
About 48% (adjusted VE 0.48).
What about PHN?
VE ~62% at 30 days and ~59% at ≥90 days.
How common was vaccination?
Only 3.9% of eligible people vaccinated.
Who had lower uptake?
Oldest adults, Black individuals, and those with low income.
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