Also available in Italy is the adjuvanted recombinant vaccine against Herpes Zoster, the so-called St. Anthony’s Fire: a disease that affects about 150 thousand Italians every year and can cause very intense pain, sometimes lasting over time, giving rise in some cases to a disabling complication called post-herpetic neuralgia (NPE) which has a negative impact on the quality of life of those affected. The incidence and severity increase with age with an increase after age 50. Herpes Zoster is a disease caused by the reactivation of the varicella virus with clinical manifestations such as rash with vesicular evolution, recalled Roberto Bernabei, Professor of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome, during a press conference for the presentation of the vaccine. The elderly are a favored target because they have a compromised or otherwise less efficient immune system. Herpes Zoster develops on this premise and, above all, its most serious complication, post-herpetic neuralgia often resistant to therapy. Other complications such as ophthalmic localization, bacterial superinfections or paralysis of the peripheral nerves make Herpes Zoster a strong danger to the quality of life, made by the miserable virus. Reasons why it is important to have a new effective vaccine.
The adjuvanted recombinant vaccine (RZV), was developed and formulated by GSK. An adjuvant a component that stimulates the innate immune response in a similar way to the natural response to pathogens. Italy also contributed in terms of clinical studies to the registration of the vaccine: in our country 5 registration clinical studies were conducted with the involvement of 47 centers.
The National Vaccine Prevention Plan 2017-2019 (PNPV) introduced in the vaccination calendar, as well as in the Essential Levels of Assistance (LEA) of the National Health Service (SSN), the anti-HZ vaccination for the 65-year-old cohort and for subjects from 50 years of age with presence of diseases such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or candidates for treatment with immunosuppressive therapy factors that increase the risk of developing HZ or aggravate the symptoms. Up to now, a live attenuated vaccine was available in Italy. The efficacy of the new adjuvanted recombinant vaccine, evaluated in people who have been administered two doses 2 months apart, is around 97 percent in fifties and 91 percent in people over seventy. The advantages also include the possibility of using it in subjects previously vaccinated with the live attenuated vaccine, of co-administering it with other vaccines, the persistence of the protection for several years and the effectiveness against post-herpetic neuralgia. The new recombinant vaccine adjusts an important step forward in consideration of its high efficacy both in the short and in the long term, especially for subjects over 65, given that Zoster is a very frequent pathology in the adult population and with serious complications, Massimo Andreoni explained, Full Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Tor Vergata University of Rome.
May 6, 2021 (change May 6, 2021 | 14:52)
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