Herpes Zoster

What Is the Pneumococcal Pneumonia Vaccine?
The pneumococcal vaccine protects against infections from a type of bacteria called pneumococcus. Pneumococcus is a common cause of pneumonia (a lung infection), as well as other serious infections. The vaccine prepares your immune system to recognize and fight pneumococcal bacteria. The vaccine is usually given through an injection into the arm. Some versions can also be inhaled. The vaccines do not contain living or dead bacteria. The pneumococcal vaccine does not protect you from other lung infections like the flu (influenza), COVID-19, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), or other kinds of bacteria that cause pneumonia. It is still important to get your flu shot every year and other vaccines your doctor recommends, even if you already got the pneumococcal vaccine.

What Are Benefits of Pneumococcal Pneumonia Vaccines?
The vaccine substantially lowers your risk of hospitalization or dying from serious pneumococcal infection. Vaccination can reduce the risk of pneumonia-related deaths by almost half.

Why Is There a New Pneumococcal Pneumonia Vaccine, and How Does It Differ From Prior Versions?
There are several types of pneumococcal bacteria that can cause pneumonia. Being vaccinated against one type of pneumococcus may not protect you from other types that could make you sick. Previous pneumococcal pneumonia vaccines like PPSV23 or PCV13 do not protect against all types of the pneumococcal bacteria that cause pneumonia. Newer vaccines were made in 2021 (PCV15 and PCV20) and 2024 (PCV21). These help to prevent infections from types of bacteria not covered by older versions.

What Are the Potential Side Effects?
Side effects are frequent but generally mild. The most common side effect is pain or redness at the site of injection. Less common side effects include fever, feeling tired, muscle ache, and headache. These are less severe than for other vaccines like flu and shingles. These effects can be treated with over-the-counter medications and generally go away within 24 to 48 hours. Life-threatening allergic reactions are extremely rare but possible. Seek immediate medical attention if you experience severe symptoms like difficulty breathing or progressive weakness after vaccination. The pneumonia vaccine cannot cause pneumonia or other bacterial illness.

Who Should Get a New Pneumococcal Pneumonia Vaccine?
All adults 50 years and older who have not been vaccinated should receive one of the new vaccines: PCV21, PCV20, or a sequence of PCV15 followed by PPSV23. People younger than 50 years with certain health problems should also get the new vaccine. These health problems include diabetes; chronic conditions affecting the heart, lungs, liver, or kidneys; current tobacco use or heavy alcohol consumption; a weak immune system from certain health problems or medications; absence or prior removal of the spleen; and a history of spinal fluid leak or a cochlear (inner ear) implant.

Most adults who got either PPSV23 and/or PCV13 should still get a booster with one of the newer vaccines. The different pneumococcal vaccines protect against different types of bacteria. Some types of bacteria are more common in people depending on their age, health, and where they live. Talk to your doctor about which vaccine is best for you.

Author/s:

Jerard Z. Kneifati-Hayek, Michael A. Incze

Use of Recombinant Zoster Vaccine in Immunocompromised Adults Aged ≥19 Years: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2022

Saige Blanchard — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Date Added:

January 31, 2022

Journal/Publication:

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Publisher:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Publication Date:

January 21, 2022

Issue:

Volume:

Pages:

80-84

URL:

Use of Recombinant Zoster Vaccine in Immunocompromised Adults Aged ≥19 Years: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2022

Type:

Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7103a2

Keywords

Zoster Vaccine

Immunocompromised Adults

recommendations

Advisory Committee

PMID (1):

35051134

MeSH

herpes zoster vaccine

united states food and drug administration

Vaccine Efficacy

Advisory Committees

Herpes Zoster

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends and the FDA has approved 2 doses of Shingrix for immunocompromised adults to reduce the risk of herpes zoster. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Zoster Vaccine Recombinant, Adjuvanted (Shingrix, GlaxoSmithKline [GSK]) is a 2-dose (0.5 mL each) subunit vaccine containing recombinant glycoprotein E in combination with adjuvant (AS01B) that was licensed in the United States for prevention of herpes zoster for adults aged ≥50 years by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and recommended for immunocompetent adults aged ≥50 years by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in 2017* (1). On July 23, 2021, the FDA expanded the indication for recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) to include adults aged ≥18 years who are or will be at increased risk for herpes zoster because of immunodeficiency or immunosuppression caused by known disease or therapy (2). On October 20, 2021, ACIP recommended 2 doses of RZV for the prevention of herpes zoster and related complications in adults aged ≥19 years† who are or will be immunodeficient or immunosuppressed because of disease or therapy. RZV is the first herpes zoster vaccine approved for use in immunocompromised persons. With moderate to high vaccine efficacy and an acceptable safety profile, RZV has the potential to prevent considerable herpes zoster incidence and related complications. This report updates previous ACIP recommendations for the prevention of herpes zoster (1,3).

Author/s:

Anderson, T. C., Masters, N. B., Guo, A., Shepersky, L., Leidner, A. J., Lee, G. M., Kotton, C. N., Dooling, K. L.

Corticosteroid Use and Risk of Herpes Zoster in a Population-Based Cohort

Saige Blanchard — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Date Added:

January 3, 2022

Journal/Publication:

Mayo Clinic Proceedings

Publisher:

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Publication Date:

November 1, 2021

Issue:

Volume:

Pages:

2843-2853

URL:

Corticosteroid Use and Risk of Herpes Zoster in a Population-Based Cohort

Type:

Clinical Research Results

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.1016/j.mayocp.2021.05.029

Keywords

Cohort

corticosteroids

Herpes zoster

PMID (1):

34736610

MeSH

Humans

aged

incidence

Proportional Hazards Models

cyclo(Arg-Pro)

Herpes Zoster

Not surprisingly, systemic corticosteroid use increases the risk of herpes zoster. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Objective: To examine the relationship between corticosteroid use and herpes zoster risk.

Methods: With data from a large cohort of adults (the 45 and Up Study) recruited between 2006 and 2009 and linked to health data sets, the effect of corticosteroid use on zoster risk was analyzed by Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for age, sex, and other characteristics.

Results: During 602,152 person-years (median, 7.36 years) of follow-up, there were 20,048 new systemic corticosteroid users and 6294 incident herpes zoster events among 94,677 participants (zoster incidence, 11.0 per 1000 person-years). Compared with nonusers, the risk of zoster was 59% higher in those using systemic corticosteroids (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.59; 95% CI, 1.48 to 1.71) and greater with higher cumulative doses: aHR of 1.32 (95% CI, 1.17 to 1.48), 1.74 (95% CI, 1.55 to 1.95), and 1.80 (95% CI, 1.61 to 2.02) for use of less than 500 mg, 500 mg to less than 1000 mg, and 1000 mg or more prednisolone equivalents, respectively (P value for trend, <.001). Compared with nonusers, zoster risk increased significantly (aHR, 6.00; 95% CI, 4.85 to 7.42) in the month after a single prescription of systemic corticosteroids and returned to levels similar to those in nonusers by the third month after dispensing (aHR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.69).

Conclusion: Practitioners should be alert to the increased risk of zoster among patients taking systemic corticosteroids. Given the significant morbidity from zoster, particularly in older adults, these findings support judicious prescribing of corticosteroids, including using as low a dose and as short a course as possible.

Keywords: Cohort; Corticosteroids; Herpes zoster.

Author/s:

Qian, J., Banks, E., Macartney, K., Heywood, A. E., Lassere, M. N., Liu, B.

Recombinant Zoster Vaccine (Shingrix): Real-World Effectiveness in the First 2 Years Post-Licensure

Bethie Seay — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Date Added:

September 23, 2021

Journal/Publication:

Clinical Infectious Diseases

Publication Date:

September 15, 2021

Issue:

Volume:

Pages:

941-948

Type:

Clinical Research Results

DOI (1):

10.1093/cid/ciab125

MeSH

herpes zoster vaccine

Neuralgia, Postherpetic

Real world effectiveness of Shingrix (76%)

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Background
Shingrix (recombinant zoster vaccine) was licensed to prevent herpes zoster, dispensed as 2 doses given 2–6 months apart among adults aged ≥50 years. Clinical trials yielded efficacy of >90% for confirmed herpes zoster, but post-market performance has not been evaluated. Efficacy of a single dose and a delayed second dose and efficacy among persons with autoimmune or immunosuppressive conditions have not been studied. We aimed to assess post-market vaccine effectiveness of Shingrix.

Methods
We conducted a cohort study among Medicare Part D community-dwelling beneficiaries aged >65 years. Herpes zoster was identified using a medical office visit diagnosis with treatment, and postherpetic neuralgia was identified using a validated algorithm. We used inverse probability of treatment weighting to improve cohort balance and marginal structural models to estimate hazard ratios.

Results
We found a vaccine effectiveness of 70.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 68.6–71.5) and 56.9% (95% CI, 55.0–58.8) for 2 and 1 doses, respectively. The 2-dose vaccine effectiveness was not significantly lower for beneficiaries aged >80 years, for second doses received at ≥180 days, or for individuals with autoimmune conditions. The vaccine was also effective among individuals with immunosuppressive conditions. Two-dose vaccine effectiveness against postherpetic neuralgia was 76.0% (95% CI, 68.4–81.8).

Conclusions
This large real-world observational study of the effectiveness of Shingrix demonstrates the benefit of completing the 2-dose regimen. Second doses administered beyond the recommended 6 months did not impair effectiveness. Our effectiveness estimates were lower than the clinical trials estimates, likely due to differences in outcome specificity.

Author/s:

Izurieta, H. S., Wu, X., Forshee, R., Lu, Y., Sung, H. M., Agger, P. E., Chillarige, Y., Link-Gelles, R., Lufkin, B., Wernecke, M., MaCurdy, T. E., Kelman, J., Dooling, K.

Vaccination of Adults in General Medical Practice

Brian Desmarais — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 19:37:26 +0000

Date Added:

January 3, 2020

Journal/Publication:

Mayo Clinic Proceedings

Publication Date:

January 1, 2020

Issue:

Volume:

Pages:

169–183

URL:

Vaccination of Adults in General Medical Practice

Type:

Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.02.024

Keywords

adult immunization

A review of adult immunization recommendations from Mayo. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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In vaccinating adults, clinicians face 2 types of challenges: (1) staying current on recommendations for influenza, pneumococcal, hepatitis A and B, zoster, and other vaccines and (2) addressing systemic barriers to implementing practices that increase vaccination rates. Although adult immunization rates remain suboptimal, there has been much good news in adult vaccination recently. New high-dose and adjuvanted influenza vaccines help improve immune response and may reduce influenza complications in older adults. The new recombinant zoster vaccine offers significantly more efficacy against zoster outbreaks and postherpetic neuralgia than zoster vaccine live. Pertussis vaccine given during the third trimester of pregnancy may prevent between 50% and 90% of pertussis infections in infants. Shorter time for completion (1 vs 6 months) of new, adjuvanted hepatitis B vaccine may increase adherence. Clinicians can address systemic barriers to increasing vaccination rates in their clinics and health care systems by following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Standards for Adult Immunization Practice. Clinicians can help increase vaccination rates by writing standing orders and by advocating for nurses or medical assistants to receive training and protected time for assessing and documenting vaccination histories and administration. Strong recommendations that presume acceptance of vaccination are effective with most patients. Communication techniques similar to motivational interviewing can help with vaccine-hesitant patients. Clinicians, as experts on providing preventive services, can educate community leaders about the benefits of immunization and can inform vaccine experts about challenges of implementing vaccination recommendations in clinical practice and strategies that can work to raise vaccination rates.

Author/s:

Hunter, P., Fryhofer, S.A., Szilagyi, P.