The modern shingles vaccine Shingrix is associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease, heart failure and several other cardiovascular conditions.
Researchers from Oxford University reported the findings in an article published in the peer reviewed journal Nature Medicine. The team used existing health data to examine the long term outcomes of patients who received vaccinations against the virus. Oxford University, located in the United Kingdom, is a leading global institution for medical and scientific research.
Scientists took advantage of a shift in public health policy in the United States. In 2017, the country began rapidly replacing the older Zostavax vaccine with the more effective recombinant Shingrix vaccine. This transition allowed the researchers to evaluate large populations that received the different treatments.
Medical record comparison
The researchers compared the medical records of two groups of people over 60 years old. Each group consisted of more than 36,000 individuals. The scientists monitored the condition of the participants for a period of up to seven years.
Shingles is a painful condition caused by the reactivation of the same virus responsible for chickenpox. The risk of developing the infection increases with age. Cardiovascular diseases, including coronary heart disease and heart failure, also become more common in older adults and are leading causes of mortality worldwide.
Among those who received the Shingrix vaccine, the overall incidence of cardiovascular disease was nine percent lower than in those vaccinated with Zostavax. The risk of coronary heart disease proved to be 10 percent lower in the Shingrix group. Coronary heart disease involves the narrowing of the blood vessels that supply oxygen to the heart muscle.
Heart failure and stroke
The researchers found the risk of heart failure was 12 percent lower for those who received the newer vaccine. Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump blood efficiently. The risk of atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm, was seven percent lower. Men in the Shingrix group also demonstrated a 12 percent reduction in the risk of stroke.
The scientists reported that the association between the vaccine and the reduced cardiovascular risks was most pronounced in the first years after vaccination.
The researchers suggested the effect may be related to the suppression of the shingles virus. The activation of the virus can negatively affect the heart and blood vessels.
The team cautioned that the research was an observational study. While this type of study can identify patterns and associations in large groups of people, it does not prove that Shingrix is the specific cause of the reduced cardiovascular risk.
