Shingles vaccine may lower heart attack, stroke risk

Shingles vaccination may significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a large-scale study presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific sessions.

The research has found that older adults who received the shingles vaccine had a 20% lower risk of heart attack and a 16% lower risk of stroke compared to those who did not.

Shingles is a common condition that is affecting millions of people worldwide that causes a painful rash and can lead to serious health conditions such as deafness, long lasting pain and blindness.

In most of the countries, the vaccine is recommended for older people, but the findings suggest it could have cardiovascular protective effects in adults as young as 18.

The study’s author, Dr Charles Williams at GSK said, “We looked at the currently available evidence, and found that in this analysis, vaccination against herpes zoster was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks or strokes."

A global systemic review was conducted using three scientific literature databases, and subsequently a meta-analysis of phase 3 randomized controlled trials and observational studies accessing the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on cardiovascular events.

Vaccination is extremely useful not only against specific prevention but particularly also for the cardiovascular diseases.

In this regard, the chief scientific and medical officer, Prof Bryan Williams at the British Heart Foundation was not specifically involved in the research but welcomed the research findings and shed light on future research.

He said, “There is great interest in studies suggesting the shingles vaccine may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, although this analysis is largely based on observational studies which cannot demonstrate cause and effect.”

People aged 18 and 49 with a severely weakened immune system will be available for vaccination from September 1.

The NHS previously expanded eligibility to include people over 50 with a severely weakened immune system.