Vaccination of older adults against herpes zoster is safe and effective

Commentary on: Gagliardi AM, Gomes Silva BN, Torloni MR, et al.. Vaccines for preventing herpes zoster in older adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012;10:CD008858. Context The problem addressed by this study is that older individuals, for example, those over 60 years of age, are more likely to develop herpes zoster (HZ) than younger people. Older adults are far more likely to develop severe complications of HZ, especially postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Methods Gagliardi and colleagues reviewed eight randomised controlled trials (RCTs) involving 52 269 participants. Findings By focusing on RCTs and assessing the risk of bias in these studies, the authors concluded that vaccination against HZ is safe and effective. The risk of HZ was less compared to placebo: risk ratio (RR) 0.49 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.56), with a risk difference of 2%, and number needed to treat to benefit of 50. In...
Source: Evidence-Based Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Tags: Clinical trials (epidemiology), Immunology (including allergy), Vaccination / immunisation, Neuromuscular disease, Pain (neurology), Peripheral nerve disease, Dermatology, Ethics Online articles Source Type: research