A growing body of evidence suggests the vaccine may also lower risk of stroke and heart attack
One in three people in the US get shingles. Despite this, US vaccination rates remain low – about 35% of adults over 60, consistent with overall vaccination trends.
“We have a vaccine that works really well,” says Dr Andrew Wallach, ambulatory care chief medical officer at NYC Health + Hospitals. “But there is a lot of what I call vaccine fatigue right now.”
A growing body of evidence also suggests that shingles vaccination may lower the risk of dementia, stroke and heart attack. Here’s why experts say people should consider the shingles vaccination.
Shingles is a viral infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox. If you’ve had chickenpox, the virus stays in your body and can reactivate later in life as shingles at any age, though most commonly after 50.
