Vaccinations

Chicken pox shot reduces shingles risk in kids

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is very rare among children who have been vaccinated against chicken pox, according to a study published in the December issue of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal. Caused by a reactivation of the chicken pox virus, shingles manifests as a painful blisters of the skin.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente used electronic health records to identify more than 170,000 children vaccinated with the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine from 2002 to 2008, then followed children for an average of 2½  years to identify the occurrence of shingles. The vaccinated children had a lower rate of shingles compared to children who were not vaccinated.