Immunize Adults Against Shingles, Says AAFP

The Academy went proactive when on Nov. 29, AAFP Board Chair Larry Fields, M.D., of Flatwoods, Ky., approved a provisional immunization recommendation that adults 60 and older receive a single dose of varicella zoster vaccine, regardless of whether they report a previous episode of herpes zoster. The recommendation, which was forwarded to the board chair from the AAFP Commission on Science, is intended to prevent development of herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, and post-herpetic neuralgia in this population.

Fields' approval of the commission's recommendation is in keeping with a relatively new process that allows the Academy to develop and issue its own provisional immunization recommendations based on a review of provisional recommendations created by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP.

On Oct. 25, the ACIP gave a thumbs-up to provisional recommendations (PDF file: 1 page / 22 KB. More about PDFs.) for the use of live, attenuated varicella zoster virus vaccine for prevention of herpes zoster and post-herpetic neuralgia. Those recommendations will become official when approved by the CDC and published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. At press time, the expected MMWR publication date was June 2007.

Family physicians Jonathan Temte, M.D., Ph.D., of Madison, Wis., and Doug Campos-Outcalt, M.D., M.P.A., of Phoenix, who serve as AAFP liaisons to the ACIP, agree with the recommendations, which also call for persons with chronic medical conditions to receive the vaccine unless a contraindication or precaution exists for their condition. Information about contraindications to and precautions regarding use of zoster vaccine can be found on the FDA's Web site.