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Research Highlights
Shingles Vaccine Shows Promise in Clinical Trial
June 2, 2005
In one of the largest adult vaccine trials in medical history, VA researchers and colleagues found that an experimental vaccine for shingles—a painful nerve and skin condition that affects many older adults—reduced the incidence of the disease by more than half, and dramatically limited its severity and complications. Shingles, which affects about a million Americans each year, is caused by a re-awakening of dormant chickenpox virus in the body. It is marked by a painful, blistering rash, and sometimes leads to lingering long-term pain known as post-herpetic neuralgia. The trial involved nearly 39,000 older men and women at 22 sites, and was conducted in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health. (New England Journal of Medicine, 6/2/05)
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