Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Nov-Dec;35(6):3271-3275.
doi: 10.21873/invivo.12622.

Herpes Zoster Vaccination Reduces Risk of Dementia

Steven Lehrer  1 , Peter H Rheinstein  2
Affiliations

Herpes Zoster Vaccination Reduces Risk of Dementia

Steven Lehrer et al. In Vivo. 2021 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Background/Αim: The relationship of herpes viruses and herpes zoster (HZ) with dementia and Alzheimer's disease is controversial. This study evaluated the relationship between HZ vaccination and cognitive impairment.

Patients and methods: We used data from The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to evaluate the relationship between HZ vaccination and cognitive impairment.

Results: Using BRFSS 2017 data, we assessed HZ vaccination status in 275 subjects whose social activities were hampered by disorientation or memory loss. 61.6% of vaccinated subjects (n=61) and 46.6% of unvaccinated subjects (n=82) never had social activities hampered by disorientation or memory loss. The result is significant (p=0.025, two- sided Fisher exact test). The results of multivariate linear regression analysis, considering social activities hampered by disorientation or memory loss as a dependent variable, and vaccination (yes or no), sex, and education level as independent variables, showed that the effect of vaccination--reducing risk of social activities hampered by disorientation or memory loss--was significant (p=0.03).

Conclusion: Our finding that HZ vaccination reduces the risk of dementia is consistent with the link between viruses and AD. Herpes viruses-induced reactivation of embryologic pathways silenced at birth could be one of the pathologic processes in Alzheimer's disease.

Keywords: Shingles; dementia; herpes zoster; vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare in relation to this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Factors involved in neurodegeneration. GBA, BIN1, APOE, SNCA, and TMEM175 are five genes that have a role in determining whether a person will develop Lewy body dementia (LBD); some of these genes are also linked to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Thus, the pathophysiology and course of AD, LBD, and PD would be different, depending on an individual’s genome. Although AD and PD are molecularly and clinically distinct disorders, their causes appear to underlie LBD. All three conditions lie on a continuum in vulnerable persons.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chen VC, Wu SI, Huang KY, Yang YH, Kuo TY, Liang HY, Huang KL, Gossop M. Herpes zoster and dementia: A nationwide population-based cohort study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018;79(1):16m11312. doi: 10.4088/JCP.16m11312. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bae S, Yun SC, Kim MC, Yoon W, Lim JS, Lee SO, Choi SH, Kim YS, Woo JH, Kim SY, Kim SH. Association of herpes zoster with dementia and effect of antiviral therapy on dementia: a population-based cohort study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2021;271(5):987–997. doi: 10.1007/s00406-020-01157-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tsai MC, Cheng WL, Sheu JJ, Huang CC, Shia BC, Kao LT, Lin HC. Increased risk of dementia following herpes zoster ophthalmicus. PLoS One. 2017;12(11):e0188490. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188490. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Itzhaki RF, Lathe R. Herpes viruses and senile dementia: First population evidence for a causal link. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018;64(2):363–366. doi: 10.3233/JAD-180266. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Choi HG, Park BJ, Lim JS, Sim SY, Jung YJ, Lee SW. Herpes zoster does not increase the risk of neurodegenerative dementia: A case-control study. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2021;36:15333175211006504. doi: 10.1177/15333175211006504. - DOI - PMC - PubMed