Zoster recombinant vaccine provides better value and better protection against shingles

Vaccination with the new recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) provides greater protection against shingles and is cost-effective compared with zoster vaccine live (ZVL) or no vaccination. Findings from a cost-effectiveness study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recently developed recommendations for use of the new RZV for prevention of the herpes zoster virus in adults. The newer vaccine has shown higher efficacy than ZVL in clinical trials.

Researchers from the University of Michigan and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed a simulation model using U.S. epidemiologic, clinical, and cost data to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of vaccination with RZV compared with ZVL and no vaccination. They also looked at the cost-effectiveness of vaccination with RZV for persons who had previously received ZVL, and whether RZV should be preferentially recommended over ZVL from an economic perspective. The researchers found that vaccination with RZV was cost-effective compared with ZVL under a wide range of conditions and yielded greater projected health benefits at lower costs under most conditions among persons aged 60 and older, and also was the preferred strategy for those aged 50 to 59, in more than 95 percent of simulations. These research findings were reported to ACIP and subsequently RZV was recommended and included in its most recent Recommended Immunization Schedule for Adults.