A study published in Nature Medicine has suggested that people who receive the shingles vaccine Shingrixmay have a lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who received the older shingles vaccine Zostavax.
Health records of more than 200,000 US citizens – half of whom were vaccinated with Zostavax and half of whom were vaccinated with Shingrix – were tracked for over six years, showing a 17% reduction in the risk of dementia in those who’d had the Shingrix vaccine.
Study author, Dr Maxime Taquet from the University of Oxford, says:
“If validated in clinical trials, these findings could have significant implications for older adults, health services, and public health.”
Shingrix has been the shingles vaccine offered by the NHS for over 65’s since 2023.
You can read more about this study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03201-5