Dementia rates should decline in the UK after a major study revealed the shingles vaccine reduces the risk of the condition by 17 per cent. The “convincing” University of Oxford findings show that the Shingrix vaccine is linked to a “significantly” lower risk of dementia in the six years after vaccination than the previously-used Zostavax jab. Researchers said this equates to five to nine more months of life without dementia for those given the Shingrix jab compared with other vaccines.
Both men and women benefited from the newer jab, but the effects were greater in women. They had 22 per cent more time living without dementia while in men it was 13 per cent, the study of more than 200,000 people in the US aged 65 and above found. Around 850,000 people in the UK have dementia – a figure that has been predicted to rise to 1.
4 million by 2040 . However, the researchers said they expect rates will fall, especially if more people have the shingles vaccine on the NHS. Latest figures show that less than half of all 71 year olds have had the jab.
“If this is cause and effect then we would see a reduction of diagnosis of dementia in the UK, if more people start taking up the shingles vaccine,” said study leader Dr Maxime Taquet, academic clinical lecturer in the department of psychiatry at Oxford. “The size and nature of this study makes these findings convincing and should motivate further research. They support the hypothesis that vaccination against shingles might .