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A recent study found that long-term use of recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) was associated with a significantly lower risk of herpes zoster in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) aged 50 and above, suggesting the potential benefits of extended vaccination strategies in this population.
The following is a summary of “Recombinant Zoster Vaccine (RZV) is Effective in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A US Propensity Matched Cohort Study,” published in the January 2024 issue of Gastroenterology by Desai et al.
Researchers launched a retrospective study to assess the long-term impact of recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) on herpes zoster (HZ) risk in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), addressing the data gap in its lasting effectiveness.
They involved adults aged ≥50 years using the TriNetX database and compared patients with IBD who received 2 doses of RZV (IBD-RZV cohort) and those who did not receive RZV (IBD control cohort). The primary outcome assessed was the risk of incident HZ. Conducted one-to-one propensity score matching for demographics, comorbid conditions, and IBD medications. The risk was quantified as an aOR with 95% CI.
The results showed the IBD-RZV cohort (n=5,489; mean age 63.2 ±9.1 years; 57.2% females) exhibited a mean follow-up of 900.9 days. This cohort demonstrated a lower risk of HZ (aOR 0.44, 95% CI 0.32-0.62) than the IBD control cohort. Individuals aged 50-65 years (aOR 0.41, 95% CI 0.25-0.68) and those >65 years old (aOR 0.64, 95% CI 0.42-0.96) in the IBD-RZV cohort had a lower risk of HZ. Additionally, patients with ulcerative colitis (aOR 0.41, 95% CI 0.27-0.63) and Crohn’s disease (aOR 0.44, 95% CI 0.26-0.74) in the IBD-RZV cohort showed a decreased risk of HZ compared to the IBD control cohort.
They concluded that long-term RZV was linked to lower shingles risk in IBD patients over 50, calling for better vaccination strategies.
