Does the Shingles Vaccine Protect ESRD Patients?

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who received the shingles vaccine were 50% less likely to develop the infection, according to new research.

Since patients with ESRD typically undergo dialysis, they are highly susceptible to contracting shingles and other infections.
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To conduct their study, researchers collected cohort data from ESRD patients older than 60 years who were registered in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California. They examined 582 patients on dialysis who received a shingles vaccine from 2007 to 2013. Then they compared those patients to 2910 unvaccinated patients.

The results showed that patients who received the vaccine were 50% less likely to develop shingles over time. For those who were vaccinated, the chance of contracting shingles was only 4.1% over 3 years—unvaccinated patients had a 6.6% chance.

Researchers found that patients who received the vaccine immediately after dialysis had the best protection against shingles.

This study is part of an ongoing series that investigates the safety and effectiveness of the shingles vaccine.

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Tseng HF, Luo Y, Shi J, et al. Effectiveness of herpes zoster vaccine in patients 60 years and older with end-stage renal disease. Clinical Infectious Diseases. Published online December 14, 2015. doi: 10.1093/cid/civ930.