Article Text
PDF
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Q In persons ⩾60 years of age, does a live attenuated varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine decrease the burden of illness caused by herpes zoster and the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia?
Clinical impact ratings GP/FP/Primary care ★★★★★★☆ IM/Ambulatory care ★★★★★★☆ Infectious disease ★★★★★★★
METHODS
Design:
randomised placebo controlled trial (Shingles Prevention Study).
Allocation:
{concealed*}†.
Blinding:
blinded (clinicians, participants, {data collectors, outcome assessors, data analysts, and data safety and monitoring committee}†).*
Follow-up period:
mean 3.13 years.
Setting:
22 sites in the US.
Participants:
38 546 persons ⩾60 years of age (median age 69 y, 59% men) who had a history of varicella or had lived in the US ⩾30 years. Immunocompromised persons were excluded.
Intervention:
1 subcutaneous injection of 0.5 ml of Oka/Merck VZV vaccine (n = 19 270), or placebo (n = 19 276). The vaccine had median estimated potency of 24 600 plaque forming units.
Outcomes:
vaccine efficacy with respect to the severity of illness …