A new vaccine against shingles halves the risk of elderly people developing the painful condition, according to a major study published last night.
Tens of thousands of people have tried the vaccine in the USA in a drive to prevent the problem, which afflicts as many as one in three people in later life.
Last night researchers published findings from a programme involving some 300,000 people.
This showed that vaccinated people enjoyed a 55 per cent cut in the risk of getting the disease, known medically as herpes zoster.
The disease is caused by a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, causing damage to the nerves.
Researcher Dr Hung Fu Tseng, of the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena, California, said: "Our study shows the vaccine has the potential to prevent tens of thousands of cases of shingles, a painful, lingering disease."
The findings were reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr Rafael Harpaz, of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "the risk of developing shingles during a lifetime is about 30 percent. It is therefore reassuring to confirm results of the original clinical trial that herpes zoster vaccine is effective at preventing this painful disease."
JAMA. 2011;305[2]:160-166
Leave a Reply