2284. Ten-Year Effectiveness of Live Virus Herpes Zoster Vaccine

Although recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) is recommended preferentially in adults aged ≥50 years in the United States, zoster vaccine live (ZVL) remains a recommended vaccine in immunocompetent adults aged ≥60 years and is currently being used in many countries around the world. Assessing the long-term effectiveness of both vaccines is critical for determining vaccine policy, including the optimal age to begin vaccination and the need for and timing of revaccination. We evaluated the long-term effectiveness of ZVL in adults ≥ 60 years old in the United States.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study at Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC). The exposed cohort included KPSC members ≥60 years vaccinated with ZVL during 1/1/2007- 12/31/2014. Three unvaccinated members were matched to each vaccinated member on age, sex, and length of membership. Individuals were followed to 6/30/2017. Electronic health records were used to identify incident herpes zoster (HZ). The effectiveness of ZVL and its 95% confidence interval (CI) at each year following vaccination was estimated.

The number of HZ cases was 7,783 in 923,176 person-years (8.4 per 1,000; 95% CI, 8.2–8.6 per 1,000) among vaccinated persons and 26,813 in 1,964,974 person-years (13.6 per 1,000; 95% CI, 13.5–13.8 per 1,000) among unvaccinated persons. The HZ incidence rate ratio, comparing the vaccinated to the unvaccinated, was 0.62 (95% CI, 0.60–0.63). The effectiveness by year after vaccination decreased each year of follow-up from 65.8% (95% CI, 63.2%-68.2%) in the first year, 49.3% (95% CI, 45.7%-52.6%) in the second, 32.0% (95% CI, 24.1%-39.1%) to 36.8% (95% CI, 32.3%-40.9%) in the third - sixth year, and 22.0% (95% CI, -2.5%- 40.6%) to 23.6% (95% CI, 13.4%-32.7%) in the seventh - 10^th year. A similar pattern was seen between those 60–69 years and ≥70 years of age.

The effectiveness of ZVL declined from 66% in the first year to 22% in the 10^th year after vaccination. This 10-year effectiveness study of ZVL provides insights into a revaccination strategy and need for a more effective and durable vaccine. Studies of long-term effectiveness of RZV are also warranted.

All authors: No reported disclosures.