Vaccine protects against shingles

Susan Aldridge, PhD

A variant of a chicken pox vaccine gave good protection to those at high risk of shingles.
Older people, and those with impaired immunity because of cancer, have a high rate of shingles - a viral infection caused by the same virus that gives rise to chicken pox. Most people recover from chicken pox, a common childhood infection, without incident. But the virus lingers in nerve cells, and may re-emerge years later to cause shingles.

Unlike chicken pox, shingles is a very distressing disease, often accompanied by excruciating nerve pain as well as a rash. In a new study, US researchers have tested an inactivated chicken pox vaccine in a group of lymphoma patients about to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Such patients are at very high risk of shingles. One sub-group received the vaccine, the other the placebo. Only 13 per cent of the vaccine group went on to develop shingles, compared to the expected 30 per cent in the unvaccinated group. The vaccine then, could offer people with cancer and the elderly a good opportunity for protection against shingles.

Source
New England Journal of Medicine 4th July 2002