This is encouraging news from our scientists! I've been getting the Shingles vaccine now since 2012, and now it appears there's a side benefit. Here's the story.
By Clarissa Brincat, Live Science, May 5, 2025
The lower incidence of dementia seen in adults who received the shingles vaccine is likely not just a correlation, scientists say, based on new results of an observational study.
The shingles vaccine may prevent or delay dementia, compelling new data suggest.
In a study published April 23 in the journal JAMA, researchers analyzed electronic health records from across Australia. They found that older adults who were eligible for a free shingles vaccine were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with dementia over the following 7.4 years than those who were slightly too old to qualify for the vaccination program.
These findings support the "viral hypothesis" of Alzheimer's disease, which posits that viral infections contribute to the development of the condition, which is the most common form of dementia. Specifically, the hypothesis points to herpesviruses, a family of viruses that includes varicella-zoster virus, the germ behind chickenpox and shingles.
If confirmed by additional research, the results of the new study suggest that an effective and low-cost tool for reducing dementia risk may already exist.
"It is very hard to see how anything other than the vaccine could explain the strong protective effect" observed in the study, Dr. Sten Vermund, dean of the University of South Florida College of Public Health, who was not involved in the work, told Live Science in an email.
A pseudo-clinical trial If a person contracts chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus can remain dormant in the nervous system for decades before reactivating later to cause shingles, a condition marked by a painful rash. The ability to fall latent and then "reawaken" in the body is a core characteristic of herpesviruses.
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