Shingles vaccination is likely to be cost effective at age 65 or 70

The age at which vaccination against Herpes zoster is most cost effective is 65 or 70 years, a new study indicates. Such protection could mean some 11 000 fewer cases of shingles each year in England and Wales, it estimates.

The researchers, at the UK Health Protection Agency and Utrecht University Medical Centre, also found that adding a booster dose of the vaccine at a later stage was unlikely to be cost effective (Vaccine doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.12.024).

A live attenuated vaccine against Herpes zoster was approved for use in the United Kingdom three years ago. The UK, unlike the …