Lowering dementia risk with shingles vaccine

The vaccine protecting against varicella-zoster virus reactivation could mitigate the risk of dementia.

In a longitudinal analysis published in Nature Medicine, investigators used de-identified data from the health records of more than 100 million individuals to examine the relationship between varicella-zoster virus reactivation, herpes zoster vaccination and dementia.

The investigators noted that varicella-zoster virus reactivation resulting in recurrent herpes zoster — also known as shingles — heightened the risk of later developing dementia compared with single herpes zoster episodes. However, those who received the live-attenuated herpes zoster vaccine were less likely to experience dementia compared with those who received a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. Multiple doses of the recombinant herpes zoster vaccine offered greater protection against dementia after several years of follow-up.

The findings indicated that vaccinating against herpes zoster could attenuate the risk of dementia.

Read more: Nature Medicine

The article presented here is intended to inform you about the broader media perspective on dentistry, regardless of its alignment with the ADA's stance. It is important to note that publication of an article does not imply the ADA's endorsement, agreement, or promotion of its content.