Preventing herpes zoster through vaccination: New developments
Phuc Le1,2, Camille Sabella3,4, Michael B Rothberg5,6
1Associate Staff, Center for Value-Based Care Research, Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA. lep@ccf.org.
Abstract:
Herpes zoster (HZ) affects 1 million Americans every year. The disease burden is higher in immunocompromised patients. The live-attenuated HZ vaccine is effective in preventing HZ and postherpetic neuralgia and has been recommended for immunocompetent adults age 60 and older. However, because protection wanes by 10 years, a booster may be necessary. In 2015, an adjuvanted subunit HZ vaccine was shown to reduce incidence by 97%, even in the elderly, but long-term data on vaccine protection are not available. Clinical trials are under way to investigate a safe and effective vaccine for immunocompromised patients.
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