Shingles cases dropping among people who got chickenpox vaccine, data shows

The chickenpox vaccine appears to protect against shingles, according to a large new analysis.

Anyone who got infected with chickenpox as a child is at risk of later developing shingles, a painful, blistering rash that usually appears on one side of the body. For unknown reasons, cases of shingles have been gradually rising, even among younger adults, research has shown.

However, new data suggests that a steep decline in chickenpox cases over the last three decades, thanks to the chickenpox vaccine, may contribute to a decline in shingles in the coming years.

New data suggests that people ages 34 and younger may be less likely to develop shingles than previous generations. That’s because they are more likely to have been vaccinated against the varicella zoster virus, or chickenpox, which can reactivate years later as shingles.

“Our data suggest that trend is now reversing in the very youngest adults, the first generation eligible to be vaccinated against chickenpox as children,” said registered nurse Kersten Bartelt, lead author of the report from Epic Research, which conducts research on health trends.

Epic researchers used electronic health data from more than 85 million patients seen by healthcare providers in the United States. They logged…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health