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The efficacy of the shingles vaccine was first established in a large Veterans Affairs cooperative study in which patients were followed during the first 4 years after vaccination (JW Gen Med Jun 14 2005). Estimates of longer-term efficacy now are provided by a substudy in which follow-up of some of the original patients continued in years 5 to 7 after vaccination.
In the original study, overall incidence of herpes zoster (HZ) was halved in vaccine recipients (5.4 vs. 11.1 cases per 1000 person-years). Among about 14,000 patients (mean age, 73) in the follow-up study, overall HZ rates remained lower in vaccine recipients (8.4 vs. 14.0 cases per 1000 person-years). Incidence of postherpetic neuralgia also was lower in the vaccine group, but n…