Preventing Shingles and Its Complications in Older Persons

In the United States each year, herpes zoster, or shingles, develops in half a million people 60 years of age or older. Although the symptoms are often mild in younger persons, the risk for serious complications of herpes zoster, including postherpetic neuralgia, ocular involvement, and central nervous system disease, increases with advancing age.1 The rising age-specific incidence of shingles and the aging population in the United States are likely to contribute to additional shingles-associated morbidity in coming years.2 The prevention of herpes zoster and its complications in older persons will improve quality of life and should be a public health . . .