While the broader efficacy of the new shingles vaccine may not be gauged for some time, trials have delivered encouraging results, which is good news for GPs at the forefront of managing a debilitating condition that will take an ever-greater toll as our population ages.
The National Centre for Immunisation Research says 20-30 per cent of Australians will have shingles in their lifetime. It is estimated that by the age of 85, one in two people will have experienced the illness, which unlike its relation varicella can recur.
GPs, patients and family members are no strangers to the devastating impact of post herpetic neuralgia (PHN), with the associated chronic pain, physical disability and depression.
With this in mind it is pleasing to see that the National Immunisation Program for shingles will commence in November 2016 for all Australians aged 70 years, with a catch up program for those 71-79 years.
In the meantime Zostavax, a single dose vaccine, is recommended for people aged 60 years and over in the Government’s Immunisation Handbook.
Unfortunately, the cost on private script is around $200.
Zostavax is a live attenuated vaccine that is 14 times more potent than the varicella vaccine. The Shingles Prevention Study showed the vaccine had efficacy against herpes zoster (HZ) of 51 per cent, PHN 66.5 per cent and burden of HZ measure of 61 per cent over a three-year follow up
