CHICKEN POX VACCINE ASSOCIATED WITH SHINGLES EPIDEMIC

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Subject: CHICKEN POX VACCINE ASSOCIATED WITH SHINGLES EPIDEMIC  

S. Goldman, Ph.D.

Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 16:06:23 +0000 (UTC)

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: S. Goldman, Ph.D.

Phone: 661-944-5661

Fax: 661-944-4483

For Immediate Rrelease

CHICKEN POX VACCINE ASSOCIATED WITH SHINGLES EPIDEMIC

Pearblossom, CA - New research published in the International

Journal of

Toxicology (IJT) by S. Goldman, Ph.D., reveals high rates of

shingles

(herpes zoster) in Americans since the government's 1995

recommendation that

all children receive chicken pox vaccine. Goldman's research

supports that

shingles, which results in three times as many deaths and five times

the

number of hospitalizations as chicken pox, is suppressed naturally by

occasional contact with chicken pox.

Dr. Goldman's findings have corroborated other independent

researchers

who estimate that if chickenpox were to be nearly eradicated by

vaccination,

the higher number of shingles cases could continue in the U.S. for

up to 50

years; and that while death rates from chickenpox are already very

low, any

deaths prevented by vaccination will be offset by deaths from

increasing

shingles disease. Another recent peer-reviewed article authored by

Dr.

Goldman and published in Vaccine presents a cost-benefit analysis of

the

universal chicken pox (varicella) vaccination program. Goldman

points out

that during a 50-year time span, there would be an estimated

additional 14.6

million (42%) shingles cases among adults aged less than 50 years,

presenting society with a substantial additional medical cost burden

of $4.1

billion. This translates into $80 million annually, utilizing an

estimated

mean healthcare provider cost of $280 per shingles case.

After a child has had varicella (chickenpox), the virus becomes

dormant

and can reactivate later in adulthood in a closely related disease

called

shingles--both caused by the same varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It

has long

been known that adults receive natural boosting from contact with

children

infected with chicken pox that helps prevent the reactivation of

shingles.

Based on Dr. Goldman's earlier communications with the Centers

for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Goldman maintains that

epidemiologists

from the CDC are hoping " any possible shingles epidemic associated

with the

chickenpox vaccine can be offset by treating adults with a 'shingles'

vaccine. " This intervention would substitute for the boosting adults

previously received naturally, especially during seasonal outbreaks

of the

formerly common childhood disease.

" Using a shingles vaccine to control shingles epidemics in

adults would

likely fail because adult vaccination programs have rarely proved

successful, " said Goldman. " There appears to be no way to avoid a

mass

epidemic of shingles lasting as long as several generations among

adults. "

Goldman's analysis in IJT indicates that effectiveness of the

chickenpox vaccine itself is also dependent on natural boosting, so

that as

chickenpox declines, so does the effectiveness of the vaccine. " The

principal reason that vaccinees in Japan maintained high levels of

immunity

20 years following vaccination was that only 1 in 5 (or 20%) of

Japanese

children were vaccinated, " he said. " So those vaccinated received

immunologic boosting from contact with children with natural

chickenpox. But

the universal varicella vaccination program in the U.S. will nearly

eradicate this natural boosting mechanism and will leave our

population

vulnerable to shingles epidemics. "

For decades it was thought shingles increased with age as older

individuals' immune systems declined. However, Goldman's new

research shows

this phenomenon seemed primarily due to the fact that older people

received

fewer natural boosts to immunity as their contacts with young

children

declined.

S. Goldman, Ph.D. served for eight years as a Research

Analyst with

the Varicella Active Surveillance Project conducted by the Los

Angeles

County Department of Health Services (LACDHS). The project was

funded by the

CDC.

Contacts: S. Goldman, Ph.D. Phone 661-944-5661; Fax: 661-944-

4483;

Email: pearblossominc@...

About S. Goldman, Ph.D.: Currently serves as Founder and

Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed medical journal Medical Veritas

(www.MedicalVeritas.com). Has recently authored five manuscripts

concerning

varicella, herpes zoster, and capture-recapture published in the

European

journal called Vaccine.

Research published in the International Journal of Toxicology,

24(4):205-213, Universal Varicella Vaccination: Efficacy Trends and

Effect

on Herpes Zoster. Also, Vaccine, 23(25):3349-3355, Cost-benefit

analysis of

universal varicella vaccination in the U.S. taking into account the

closely

related herpes zoster epidemiology.