Dermatologists can help patients decide if new vaccines to prevent HPV and Herpes Zoster are right for them

For more than 200 years, vaccines have played an important role in the prevention of infectious diseases. In the United States, measles, mumps and rubella are now rare diseases thanks to vaccines. Now, two vaccines recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and the herpes zoster vaccine – are proving effective in protecting people from serious or potentially life-threatening diseases.

Approved by the FDA in 2006 for use in adults age 60 and older, the herpes zoster vaccine was found to be effective in preventing the occurrence of shingles in 51 percent of adults age 60 and older who participated in placebo-controlled trials in the United States. However, Dr. Tyring added that even in the 49 percent of patients who developed shingles despite the vaccine, approximately two-thirds of these patients reported a reduction in the severity of their shingles and less pain than in previous outbreaks read more