Adjuvant Herpes Zoster Subunit Vaccine is 97% Effective in Adults Save

The hazards of live virus vaccines are familiar to those who manage immunosuppression in the setting of inflammatory or autoimmune disease.  One in three adults will contract "shingles" (VZV) infection in their lifetime.  Given the pain and mobidity associated with this infection, the development of this VZV glycoprotein with adjuvant represents a significant advance.  15,411 normal adults over age 50 yrs were included in this phase III study and shown to have 97% protection against VZV infection. Injection site reactions/pain and myalgia were more frequent in the vaccine treated patients, but serious adverse were similar between groups.