More than 55,000 Kiwis aged 65 will now have access to a funded vaccine that, according to new research, can help protect them for up to 10 years against shingles — an intensely painful disease.

And Pharmac is assessing funding Māori and Pacific peoples from the age of 60.

Shingles is a viral infection caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. Even those who appear healthy but are 50-plus are at risk of developing shingles.

Almost all adults over 50 already have the virus that causes shingles in their body due to an initial chickenpox infection. Around a third of these will develop shingles in their lifetime when the virus reactivates.

The disease is preventable, however, and a new study has shown the recently funded Shingrix vaccine can protect those aged 50-plus from the effects of shingles for up to 10 years.

Most commonly, the shingles rash or blisters wrap around one side of the torso. Shingles can also be intensely painful, and the disease is associated with a range of complications, which for some people can include vision loss, cardiovascular and stroke events, hearing loss, scarring and neurological problems.

New funded Shingrix vaccine can protect those who are 50-plus from the effects of shingles for up to 10 years. Photo / Supplied

Along with ongoing pain and possible secondary infection, in rare cases shingles can be fatal for some patients.

Patients can be affected by long term pain — known as postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) — when damaged nerve fibres send exaggerated messages of pain from skin to brain. Around a third of people with shingles may develop PHN, which can last for months or years. The condition is more likely to occur in older patients and can be associated with depression, anxiety and weight loss.

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Research has shown two-thirds (66 per cent) of Kiwis over 50, the demographic most at risk of the disease, say they have little-to-no knowledge of the shingles virus, and health experts have labelled this “concerning”.

Pharmac has now advised it will fund Shingrix for those who are 65 and is assessing other patient groups such as Maori and Pasifika aged 60-plus.

Dr Jenny Visser, senior lecturer at Otago University, says “as we age our immune system starts to wear down, allowing the potential for the virus to reactivate”.

“Shingles is an incredibly painful virus and can result in hospitalisation along with severe complications. For those who are immunocompromised or living with an underlying disease, it can be fatal,” she says.

“Shingles is extremely painful and itchy as the virus becomes active it travels along the nerves and shows up as a skin rash. It is usually concentrated in one area of the torso, but it can move to other parts of the body including the eye, which can result in a loss of sight.

“Patients are often unable to have clothing or bed linen touch their skin and one of the most common side effects is postherpetic neuralgia, which means the patient can suffer from chronic pain even after the rash and blisters have disappeared.”

Visser advises New Zealanders aged 50-plus who have been exposed to chickenpox to consult their GP about how to prevent the development of shingles.

In a move set to improve access to the vaccine and a first for New Zealand, all people 50-plus can receive the vaccine through private purchase in pharmacy.

Brett Marett, medical director at GSK, says “one in three adults will develop shingles in their lifetime and the company is proud to be at the forefront of developing vaccines”.

“We are pleased that vaccination with Shingrix offers protection against shingles for up to 10 years, allowing New Zealanders and their health providers peace of mind when it comes to duration of protection,” he says.

The Shingrix vaccine is shown to be over 90 per cent effective at preventing shingles in all age groups 50-plus in clinical trials. Shingrix offers sustained protection against shingles for up to 10 years post vaccination, and continues to be monitored.