ArticleAnnals of internal medicine2025
Effectiveness of Recombinant Herpes Zoster Vaccine in the U.S. Medicare Population, 2018 to 2019, by Immunocompetence and Prior Receipt of Live Zoster Vaccine.
Article in Annals of internal medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The efficacy, immunogenicity and safety of the LZ901 vaccine for herpes zoster virus in adults 40 years of age or older: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.Nature communications · 2026Trial
- Disseminated herpes zoster in adults: a single-center retrospective study on clinical spectrum and risk factors for adverse outcomes.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRecombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) was preferentially recommended over live zoster vaccine (ZVL) starting in 2018.
objectiveTo assess RZV effectiveness using target trial emulation, accounting for prior receipt of ZVL and immunocompetence.
designAnalysis 1 emulated 12 sequential trials of at least 12 months' duration in which treatment assignment was assessed by real-world vaccination in the month before each trial. Individuals could participate in multiple trials for which they were eligible (for example, no prior RZV vaccination). Pooled vaccine effectiveness (VE) was estimated across the trials using weighted Fine and Gray models with robust variance estimation. Risks were estimated from the cumulative incidence function. Analysis 2 used the same methods to estimate the VE of 2 RZV doses versus 1 dose, with 10 trials beginning 60 days from the first dose.
setting20% random sample of fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries covered by Parts A, B, and D between 2007 and 2019.
participantsMedicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or older with continuous Part D coverage, 6 months of continuous coverage before trial enrollment, no claims for herpes zoster (HZ) since 2007, and no prior RZV vaccination.
intervention1 or 2 RZV doses. MEASUREMENTS: Outcomes were HZ, HZ ophthalmicus, and postherpetic neuralgia. Covariates were age, sex, race, ethnicity, prior ZVL receipt, and immunocompetence.
resultsVaccine effectiveness against any HZ outcome was 56.1% (95% CI, 53.1% to 59.0%), with similar VE between immunocompetent (56.5% [CI, 53.2% to 59.5%]) and immunocompromised (54.2% [CI, 44.7% to 62.1%]) individuals. Individuals vaccinated with ZVL in the past 10 years benefited from RZV. A second RZV dose conferred an additional 67.9% effectiveness against any HZ outcome. LIMITATION: Limited follow-up; covariate misclassification.
conclusionRecombinant zoster vaccine is effective in older adults, including immunocompromised adults, and 2 doses were more effective than 1. Prior ZVL recipients should be revaccinated with RZV. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
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