vaccine against herpes zoster effective to protect the elderly against shingles even after chemotherapy

vaccine against herpes zoster effective to protect the elderly against shingles even after chemotherapy -

The herpes zoster vaccine continues to be effective in protecting people elderly against shingles even after they undergo chemotherapy, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

researchers examined the records of more than 21,000 Kaiser Permanente patients in Southern California who were 60 years and more electronic health and received chemotherapy between January 07 and December 2012.

researchers found that patients who have already been vaccinated with zoster vaccine were 42 percent less likely to develop shingles after chemotherapy. Furthermore, no vaccinated patients underwent hospitalization for shingles, while six unvaccinated patients were hospitalized with the disease, the study found.

"The vaccine against shingles has been shown to be safe and effective in adults with healthy immune systems, but until now there has been a lack of data on whether the vaccine remains safe and effective for people who may have compromised immune systems due to treatments such as chemotherapy, "said study lead author Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. "Our study shows that older patients who had already been vaccinated against shingles are less likely to develop this painful and often debilitating disease after chemotherapy."

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus can affect anyone who has had chickenpox. the symptoms of shingles include painful rash and blisters that develop on one side of the face or body, as well as fever, headache and chills. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, before was the vaccine against shingles available, almost one in three people in the United States would develop shingles at some point in their lives, which translated into more than 1 million cases of shingles expected each year to United States

the risk of developing shingles also increases among the receiving treatments that weaken the immune system, such as chemotherapy for cancer. The lifetime risk of developing cancer is nearly 40 percent among adults 60 years, according to the National Cancer Institute. The CDC recommends that people aged 60 and over receive one dose of vaccine against shingles as this is the only way to reduce the risk of developing shingles and prevent long-term complications.

"Age is associated with an increased risk of cancer and other medical conditions that may require immunocompromising treatments like chemotherapy," said Tseng. "It is important that older patients to get vaccinated when they are relatively healthy, or before starting the immunosuppression treatment, because the vaccine is not recommended for those with a weakened immune system."

Kaiser Permanente can conduct research on transformational health in part because it has the largest electronic health record centric private patient in the world. electronic health record of the organization Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®, connects securely about 9.3 million patients to 17,000 physicians in 618 medical practices and 38 hospitals. It also connects Kaiser Permanente researchers in one of the most extensive collections of longitudinal medical data available, facilitating studies and important medical discoveries that shape the future delivery of health care for patients and the medical community.