Herpes zoster primary prevention
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; L. Katie Morrison, MD; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
Overview
The only way to reduce the risk of developing shingles and the long-term pain that can follow shingles is to get vaccinated. A vaccine for shingles is licensed for persons aged 60 years and older.
Primary Prevention
The intake of micronutrients, including antioxidant vitamins, A, C, E and vitamin B, as well as fresh fruit, may reduce the risk of developing shingles. In one study, patients who consumed less than one serving of fruit a day had three times the risk as those who consumed over three servings per day. For those aged 60 or more, micronutrient and vegetable intake had a similar lowering of risk.[1] A recent study evaluated the effects of two types of behavioral intervention, Tai Chi and health education, on healthy adults, who, after 16 weeks of the intervention, were vaccinated with VARIVAX, a live attenuated Oka/Merck Varicella zoster virus vaccine.[2]
Vaccines
Varicella (Chickenpox) Vaccine can prevent this disease. Currently, two doses of vaccine are recommended for children, adolescents, and adults.
A live attenuated VZV Oka/Merck strain vaccine is available and is marketed under the trade name Varivax. It was developed by Merck, Sharp & Dohme in the 1980s from the Oka strain virus isolated and attenuated by Michiaki Takahashi and colleagues in the 1970s. It was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval in 1990 and was approved in 1995. Since then, it has been added to the recommended vaccination schedules for children in Australia, the United States, and many other countries, causing controversy because it is only expected to be effective for about twenty years, leaving adults vulnerable to the most dangerous forms of infection by this virus. The use of varicella virus vaccine live (Varivax) has been limited by practitioner concerns that adults vaccinated as children could develop severe varicella infection complications if immunity provided by the vaccine is not long-lasting. However, clinical data has proved that the vaccine is effective for over 10 years in preventing varicella infection in healthy individuals and when breakthrough infections do occur, illness is typically mild.[3]
In 2006, the FDA approved Zostavax for the prevention of shingles. Zostavax is a more concentrated formulation of the Varivax vaccine, designed to elicit an immune response in the eldery whose immunity to VZV wanes with advancing age. [4] It was recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in 2006 to reduce the risk of shingles and its associated pain in people age 60 years and older. Zostavax is developed by Merck & Co. and has proven successful in preventing half the cases of herpes zoster in a study of 38,000 people who received the vaccine. [5] The vaccine also reduced by two-thirds the number of cases of postherpetic neuralgia. [6] However, prior to the vaccine, it has long been known that adults received natural immune boosting from contact with children infected with varicella. This helped to suppress the reactivation of herpes zoster.[7] In Massachusetts, herpes zoster incidence increased 90%, from 2.77/1000 to 5.25/1000 in the period of increasing varicella vaccination 1999-2003.[8] The effectiveness of the varicella vaccine itself is dependent on this exogenous (outside) boosting mechanism. Thus, as natural cases of varicella decline, so has the effectiveness of the vaccine.[9]
The risk for developing shingles increases with age. The Shingles Prevention Study involved individuals age 60 years and older and found the shingles vaccine significantly reduced disease in this age group. The vaccine is currently recommended for persons 60 years of age and older. Even people who have had shingles can receive the vaccine to help prevent future occurrences of the disease.
At this time, CDC does not have a recommendation for routine use of shingles vaccine in persons 50 through 59 years old. However, the vaccine is approved by FDA for people in this age group.
Risk of Acquiring Herpes zoster after Vaccination
The attenuated vaccine virus can reactivate and cause herpes zoster. People who get vaccinated against varicella may develop herpes zoster later in life. However, their risk is lower than people who were infected with wild-type VZV.
- In a study of children with leukemia, those who got varicella vaccine had a 67% lower risk of herpes zoster than children who had had varicella[10].
- Data on healthy children show a similar pattern of reduced risk of herpes zoster in those vaccinated against varicella.
- The number of older adults who got varicella vaccine since it was licensed in 1995 is quite low. So, there is very little information on the risk of herpes zoster in people who got varicella vaccine as adults.
Preventing Transmission in Healthcare Settings
To prevent disease and nosocomial spread of VZV, health care institutions should ensure that all healthcare personnel have evidence of immunity to VZV. This information should be documented and readily available at the work location. healthcare personnel without evidence of immunity should be alerted to the risks of possible infection and offered 2 doses of varicella vaccine administered 4–8 weeks apart when they begin employment. In addition, health-care institutions should establish protocols and recommendations for screening and vaccinating healthcare personnel and for management of healthcare personnel after exposures in the workplace.
Evidence of immunity to VZV for healthcare personnel includes any of the following:
- Documentation of vaccination with 2 doses of varicella vaccine;
- Laboratory evidence of immunity or laboratory confirmation of disease;
- Diagnosis or verification of a history of varicella disease by a healthcare provider; or
- Diagnosis or verification of a history of herpes zoster by a healthcare provider.
References
- ↑ Thomas SL, Wheeler JG, Hall AJ (2006). "Micronutrient intake and the risk of herpes zoster: a case-control study". International Journal of Epidemiology. 35 (2): 307–14. doi:10.1093/ije/dyi270. PMID 16330478.
- ↑ Irwin, MR (2007). "Augmenting Immune Responses to Varicella Zoster Virus in Older Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Tai Chi". Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 55 (4): 511–517. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01109.x. Retrieved 2007-04-08. Unknown parameter
|coauthors=ignored (help) - ↑ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prevention of varicella: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR 1996;45(No.RR-11)
- ↑ Poland, Gregory. "The Growing Paradigm of Preventing Disease." Annals of Internal Medicine. 2005;143539-541.
- ↑ Oxman MN, Levin MJ, Johnson GR, Schmader KE, Straus SE, Gelb LD et al. (2005). "A vaccine to prevent herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in older adults". N Engl J Med 253 (22): 2271–84. PMID 15930418
- ↑ Oxman MN, Levin MJ, Johnson GR, Schmader KE, Straus SE, Gelb LD et al. (2005). "A vaccine to prevent herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in older adults". N Engl J Med 253 (22): 2271–84. PMID 15930418
- ↑ Brisson M, Gay N, Edmunds W, Andrews N (2002). "Exposure to varicella boosts immunity to herpes-zoster: implications for mass vaccination against chicken pox". Vaccine. 20 (19–20): 2500–7. PMID 12057605.
- ↑ Yih, WK (2005). "The incidence of varicella and herpes zoster in Massachusetts as measured by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) during a period of increasing varicella vaccination coverage, 1998-2003". BMC Public Health. 5 (1): 68–68. PMID 15960856. Unknown parameter
|coauthors=ignored (help) - ↑ Goldman, GS (2005). "Universal varicella vaccination: efficacy trends and effect on herpes zoster". International Journal of Toxicology. 24 (4): 205–213. PMID 16126614.
- ↑ Hardy I, Gershon AA, Steinberg SP, LaRussa P (1991). "The incidence of zoster after immunization with live attenuated varicella vaccine. A study in children with leukemia. Varicella Vaccine Collaborative Study Group". N Engl J Med. 325 (22): 1545–50. doi:10.1056/NEJM199111283252204. PMID 1658650.