Shingles vaccines may have the added benefit of protecting against strokes and heart attacks, a new study suggests.
Researchers compared 27,093 adults vaccinated against herpes zoster with five times as many similar people who had not been vaccinated. During five years of follow-up, rates of stroke were 1.6% among those who were vaccinated versus 2.2% for those who did not get the shingles shot. Rates of heart attack were 1.3% vs 1.8%, respectively.
The study was not a randomized trial so cannot prove the vaccine prevented any cardiovascular events.
Everyone in the study had received the earliest shingles vaccine, Zostavax from Merck & Co., which is no longer on the U.S. market.
Shingrix, the currently available vaccine from GSK, is superior to the earlier shot at preventing shingles and recommended in the United States for all adults age 50 and older and for younger adults who are or will be at increased risk for shingles due to immunodeficiency or immunosuppression, the authors note in a report published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The benefits of the older Merck (MSD) vaccine for lowering stroke and heart attack risks were greatest in people with diabetes, but patients with other conditions, including high blood pressure, chronic obstructive lung diseases, high cholesterol, or obesity, also had reductions in risk, of the researchers found.
The researchers called for similar studies on the effect of Shingrix on heart attack and stroke but added that these results may be relevant in parts of the world where Zostavax remains available.