The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended that people ages 60 and above should get Merck & Co Inc’s vaccine Zostavax to protect against shingles.
The CDC said the recommendation replaces a provisional one it made in 2006 after the vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and recommended by a CDC advisory panel of immunization experts.
Shingles is a viral infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same one that causes chicken pox.
There is no cure for shingles, which causes a painful, blistering rash. After a person has had chicken pox, the virus remains dormant in the body, and years later can reactivate as shingles.
Merck said in a statement that more than 50,000 physicians’ offices, pharmacies and public health clinics have ordered Zostavax since the FDA approval.
The CDC said it is recommending a single dose of Zostavax for people age 60 and older, even if they have had a prior episode of shingles.
The Atlanta-based agency said researchers have found the vaccine cuts the occurrence of shingles by about 50 percent in people age 60 and older. For people ages 60 to 69, it cut the occurrence of the disease by 64 percent, the CDC said.
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