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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Feb;14(2):e3415.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.3415.

Herpes zoster vaccination and the risk of dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sangam Shah  1 , Krishna Dahal  1 , Sangharsha Thapa  2 , Prativa Subedi  3 , Basanta Sharma Paudel  1 , Swati Chand  2 , Amr Salem  2 , Markus Lammle  4 , Ranjit Sah  5   6   7 , Martin Krsak  8
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Herpes zoster vaccination and the risk of dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sangam Shah et al. Brain Behav. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Introduction: Previous studies have reported a decreased risk of dementia with herpes zoster vaccination. Given this background, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the association between herpes zoster vaccination and the risk of dementia.

Methods: We searched five databases until November 2023 for case-control, cross-sectional, or cohort studies investigating the association of herpes zoster vaccination and dementia. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were pooled in the meta-analysis. Meta-regression, subgroup, and sensitivity analysis were also conducted.

Results: We evaluated a total of five studies (one cross-sectional, one case-control, and four cohort studies) that included a total number of 103,615 patients who were vaccinated with herpes zoster vaccine. All the studies were of high quality, ranging from 7 to 9. Due to the high heterogeneity (I2 = 100%, p < .00001) observed in our study, a random effect model was used for the analysis. The pooled odds ratio was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.50, 1.43), p (overall effect) = .53), indicating that herpes zoster vaccination reduces the risk of dementia.

Conclusion: Herpes zoster vaccination is associated with a reduction of the risk of dementia. More epidemiological studies are needed to confirm the association.

Keywords: dementia; herpes zoster; shingles; vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) flowchart of the included studies.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Forest plot showing risk of dementia after herpes zoster vaccination.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Funnel plot showing publication bias among included studies. OR, odds ratio.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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