Herpes Zoster Vaccination Associated with Delay in Dementia

According to a new study published by the journal Nature Medicine, there is emerging evidence that the live herpes zoster (shingles) vaccine might protect against dementia.

However, whether the GlaxoSmithKline plc's Shingrix® recombinant shingles vaccine protects against dementia remains unknown.

This Brief Communication, published on July 25, 2024, stated, 'We used a natural experiment opportunity created by the rapid transition from live to recombinant vaccines to compare the risk of dementia between vaccines. We show that the recombinant vaccine is associated with a significantly lower risk of dementia in the six years post-vaccination.'

'Specifically, receiving the recombinant vaccine is associated with a 17% increase in diagnosis-free time, translating into 164 additional days lived without a diagnosis of dementia in those subsequently affected.'

'The effect was robust across multiple secondary analyses and present in both men and women but greater in women.'

'These findings should stimulate studies investigating the mechanisms underpinning the protection and could facilitate the design of a large-scale randomized control trial to confirm the possible additional benefit of the recombinant shingles vaccine.'

'The recombinant shingles vaccine was also associated with lower risks of dementia compared to two other vaccines commonly used in older people: influenza and tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis vaccines.'

John Todd, Professor of Precision Medicine at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine, commented in a press release, 'A key question is, how does the vaccine produce its apparent benefit in protecting against dementia? One possibility is that infection with the Herpes zoster virus might increase the risk of dementia, and therefore, by inhibiting the virus, the vaccine could reduce this risk.'

'Alternatively, the vaccine also contains chemicals which might have separate beneficial effects on brain health,' added Todd.

Researchers at the University of Oxford conducted this study, which included about 200,000 people, and it was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.