The chickenpox vaccine appears to protect against shingles, an in-depth new analysis shows.
Anyone who was infected with chickenpox as a child is at risk of later developing shingles, a painful, blistering rash that usually appears on one side of the body. For unknown reasons, cases of shingles are gradually increasing, even among young adults, research shows.
However, new data suggests that a sharp decline in chickenpox cases over the past three decades, thanks to the chickenpox vaccine, may contribute to a decline in shingles in the years to come.
New data suggests that people aged 34 and younger may be less likely to develop shingles than previous generations. This is because they are more likely to have been vaccinated against the varicella-zoster virus, or chickenpox, which can reactivate years later as shingles.
“Our data suggests that the trend is now reversing among very young adults, the first generation eligible to be vaccinated against chickenpox as children,” said registered nurse Kersten Bartelt, lead author of the report from Epic Research, which conducts research on health trends.
Epic researchers used electronic health data from more than 85 million patients seen by healthcare providers in the United States. They recorded shingles diagnoses between 2019 and 2026 and the number of cases occurring in different age groups.
The report, released Friday, find:
- Shingles cases fell from 10.8 to 7.3 per 10,000 people for women aged 30 to 34 between 2019 and 2026, and from 11 to 7.3 for men in the same age group.
- Among 25- to 29-year-olds, shingles case rates fell by more than half, from 7.7 per 10,000 women and 7.5 per 10,000 men in 2019 to 3.2 and 3.0, respectively.
- Among 18 to 24 year olds, shingles increased from 2.9 to 1.6 per 10,000 women and from 2.7 to 2.4 per 10,000 men.
It’s a promising development, but because shingles is generally rare in people younger than 50, the data can’t prove whether protection will last with age, Bertelt said.
Still, new data suggests potential lifelong benefits of chickenpox vaccination.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first chickenpox vaccine in 1995, when it was added to the childhood immunization schedule. In 1997, states began requiring it for schools and daycares. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends two doses of the chickenpox vaccine for children ages 1 to 6.
Since then, infections have dropped 97%, according to the CDC. Chickenpox, a type of herpes virus that once killed up to 150 children a year, has been virtually eradicated thanks to vaccination, experts say.
“People who have contracted the chickenpox virus are at higher risk of developing shingles,” said Dr. Sharon Curhan, a physician and epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, who was not involved in the study. “People who have received the vaccine, although they could get shingles, are at a much lower risk. »
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Epic’s data also showed that rates of shingles are increasing among people 35 and older, who are more likely to have contracted chickenpox as children.
There is no clear evidence as to what is causing the increase in this group, but, ironically, it may be linked to the near elimination of the varicella-zoster virus, experts say.
“Before the vaccine was available, parents in their 20s, 30s, 40s and grandparents were exposed to younger children with chickenpox, so this was like a booster shot for them,” Curhan said.
Other potential causes are higher rates of chronic stress, depression and anxiety, as well as autoimmune diseases, which weaken the immune system, Curhan said.
Shingles and chickenpox usually go away on their own within a few weeks, although the virus that causes both infections can cause serious complications, said Dr. Anne Gershon, professor emeritus of pediatrics at Columbia University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research.
The most common is severe, long-term nerve pain, a condition called postherpetic neuralgia. If an outbreak of shingles occurs near the eye, it can cause blindness, Bartelt said.
Shingles infections have also been linked to a 20% higher risk of cognitive decline — potentially because the virus can reactivate in the head rather than causing a rash, Gershon said — as well as an increased risk of stroke and heart disease.
Gn Health
