Shingles Vaccine Linked to Interesting Health Benefits in Large Study

The shingles vaccine is intended to prevent shingles, a painful rash caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, also known as shingles, but a new study suggests it could have important secondary benefits.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have identified a potential link between the shingles vaccine and a reduced risk of developing vascular dementia.

The vaccine has also been associated with a significantly decreased risk of cardiovascular events and death in people aged 50 years and older.

Experts presented the findings last week at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, host of IDWEEK 2025, a joint annual meeting of major U.S. infectious disease professional societies.

The study authors examined the medical records of 174,000 adults in the U.S. They followed participants who received the vaccine over a span of three months to seven years.

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Participants who received the shingles vaccine had about half the risk of developing vascular dementia.

They also had a 25 percent lower risk of heart attack or stroke, a 27 percent lower risk of blood clots and a 21 percent lower risk of death, according to a news release from the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

“The findings from our study show that the shingles vaccine may help reduce those risks, especially in people who already have a higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke,” author Ali Dehghani, an internal medicine physician at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, said in the IDSA report.

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Shingles is a red, painful, blistering rash caused by the reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox. The latent varicella zoster virus remains dormant in the body after a person has chickenpox. It can activate in later years and cause shingles, health experts told News Digital.

The condition can cause cardiovascular and neurological complications, previous studies have shown.

Shingles affects one in three Americans, and more than 99% of those born before 1980 have had chickenpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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“Shingles is more than just a rash — it can increase the risk of serious heart and brain problems,” Dehghani said in the news release.

These latest findings build on previous studies indicating that the vaccine can help protect people against shingles and related complications, according to infectious disease experts.

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“This very interesting study…supports previous evidence that the shingles vaccine may offer several general health benefits, including against the development of dementia, as well as preventing the very painful and common disease known as shingles,” Dr. Aaron Glatt, an ISDA spokesperson and an infectious disease physician at Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, New York, told News Digital.

Although these findings are “very interesting and potentially clinically important,” Glatt (who was not involved in the study) noted that it has not yet been proven that these benefits are due to the shingles vaccine.

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There are a number of possible mechanisms that could contribute to this association, including decreased inflammation, the doctor noted.

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While more studies are needed, Glatt said, “it’s very reassuring to know that the shingles vaccine is certainly associated with important overall health benefits beyond its intended purpose.”

CDC recommends two doses of recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) to prevent shingles and related complications in adults 50 years of age and older, as well as for adults 19 years of age and older who are or will become immunocompromised or immunocompromised.