Study suggests link between shingles vaccine and reduced risk of cardiovascular problems

A study based on a systematic review of research published in recent years shows that the shingles vaccine is associated with a 16 to 18 percent reduction in the risk of heart attack and stroke. This is reported by the British newspaper The Guardian .

The data from this meta-analysis – the first of its kind on this topic – will be presented on August 30 at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology , for which thousands of cardiologists from around the world are gathered in Madrid.

Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a common condition affecting millions of people and caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which causes chickenpox. It primarily presents as a painful rash but can lead to serious complications such as vision loss, especially for people with compromised immune systems.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommends the vaccine for the prevention of shingles in older adults and those with chronic diseases, "the vaccine is highly effective and approved for adults aged 50 and older, even if they have already had shingles." This new study could be an additional argument for people who are hesitant to use it.

However, Charles Williams, the study's author and medical director at GSK, which produces vaccines (including one against shingles), told the Guardian :

“Further work is now needed to determine whether this association [between reduced risk of cardiovascular events and vaccine] can be attributed to an effect of shingles vaccination.”

In other words, it is necessary to verify that there is indeed a cause-and-effect link between the reduction in the risk of stroke or heart attack and vaccination against shingles, and not that it is simply a correlation linked to a third element which has not yet been determined, for example.

Contacted by the British daily, Filippo Crea, a cardiologist at the Catholic University of Rome, who was not involved in the study, said that “these results support a growing body of evidence […] that vaccinations reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

The findings come as the UK's National Health Service (NHS) announced that an additional 300,000 people would be eligible for the shingles vaccine starting in September, the Guardian reports.