Dementia and the Shingles Vaccine

5 Jun

What do we know?

Since 2023, when you turn 65 years of age, you are offered a shingles vaccine from your GP. There is also a catch up programme for people between 70 and 79 who have not yet been vaccinated.

Nearly everyone has been infected with chicken pox at some stage in the past; in some people it was just a bad cold with minimal rash. After the infection the herpes zoster virus that causes the infection remains dormant in the nerve roots. At some stage in the future the virus can be reawakened, travel down the nerve and cause shingles – typically a band of painful rash. The nerves can be damaged causing severe pain. If the nerves to the eyes are affected, vision can be damaged.

At the moment less than a third of those eligible at 65 are getting jabbed.

What’s New?

A large study led by Stanford University, and published in Nature (that’s research royalty), compared people who had been offered the vaccine in Wales and those who hadn’t[i]. The programme in Wales had a group that started at 80 years old and did not have a catch up and those who were 80 years and 1 day old when the vaccine was launched (therefore getting the catch up) – thereby providing a comparator group that was the same in every way – just very slightly older.

After seven years of follow up, Dementia was less likely in the group that had been vaccinated. There was a 20% relative reduction in new diagnosis. The effect was greater in women than men.

Picture of Hand holding a syringe with the shingles vaccine which can protect against developing Dementia — *The shingles vaccine is the only intervention known to reduce the chance of developing Dementia by 20%.*

There had been an earlier study, from the University of Manchester, that showed similar protective effects, but had a shorter follow-up. Additionally, it was less clear that those having the vaccine and those who opted out may have had other differences[ii]

It is possible that for some people the cause of Dementia is inflammation in the brain triggered by virus that lie quietly in the brain (like herpes zoster and herpes simplex type 1), but have episodes of reactivating with the immune response causing inflammation and brain damage. Vaccines could protect against this.

No other intervention is known to reduce the chance of developing Dementia by 20%.

[i] A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia. P Geldsetzer et al. Nature. April 2025.

[ii] Shingles, Zostavax vaccination and risk of developing dementia: a nested case–control study—results from the UK Biobank cohort. K Muir et al. BMJ Open. Nov 2021.

In conclusion: what should we do?

Have your shingles vaccine! Contact your GP practice nurse to discuss your eligibility. If you are over 65 and missed out at the moment, explain why you think it is important to be vaccinated.

Dr Mark Spencer

Dr Spencer is an experienced Regional Medical Director with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry. Skilled in Family Medicine, Service Change and Innovation. he was the Clinical Lead to the largest transformational change programme in the NHS. Dr Spencer has worked many years as a GP having studied Medicine at Charing Cross Medical School. Although he is not a Dementia Expert, his wife, who passed away, had a rare form of Dementia associated with Multiple Sclerosis.