Study Adds Weight to Theory That Shingles Jab Cuts Dementia Risk

Researchers who tracked cases of dementia in Welsh adults have uncovered the strongest evidence yet that shingles vaccination reduces the risk of developing the devastating brain disease.

- Ian Sample

Health records of more than 280,000 older adults revealed that those who had received a largely discontinued shingles vaccine called Zostavax were 20% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia over the next seven years than those who had gone without.

Pascal Geldsetzer at Stanford University in the US said: "For the first time we are able to say much more confidently that the shingles vaccine causes a reduction in dementia risk. If this truly is a causal effect, we have a finding that's of tremendous importance."

The researchers took advantage of a vaccination rollout that took place in Wales more than a decade ago. Public health policy was that from 1 September 2013, people born on or after 2 September 1933 became eligible for the Zostavax shot, while those who were older missed out.