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2d ago

Shingles Vaccine Linked to Lower Dementia Risk and Dementia-Related Deaths, Welsh Study Finds

The findings come from observational analyses exploiting an NHS eligibility cutoff.

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The shingles vaccine was not designed or optimized to prevent dementia, so the incidental finding that it might lower dementia risk has researchers cautiously optimistic. (Medical concept / Adobe Stock)

Overview

  • Published Dec. 2 in Cell, the follow-up analysis of more than 300,000 Welsh health records (2013–2022) used a birthdate-based eligibility cutoff to create a natural experiment.
  • Older adults who received the live zoster vaccine (Zostavax) were about 20% less likely to develop dementia over seven years, and diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment fell by roughly 3.1% over nine years.
  • Among people already diagnosed with dementia, vaccination was associated with nearly a 30% reduction in dementia-related mortality over nine years, with a reported 22.7% drop in all-cause mortality.
  • The protective associations were stronger in women, and proposed mechanisms include preventing reactivation of latent herpesviruses or broader immune modulation.
  • Researchers stress the results are observational, note that Zostavax—not the newer Shingrix—was studied, and call for replication and randomized trials, with trial funding efforts under way.