The Efficacy of Herpes Zoster Vaccine in the Prevention and Decreasing the Severity of Postherpetic Neuralgia

Postherpeticneuralgia (PHN) is a common complicationof acute herpes zoster (HZ) infection. Symptoms can cause severe impairment to daily activities such as sleep and appetite. The elderly is the most affected group as Taiwan society is going to be an aged one. Many medication and guidelines have been published for this irritating problem. But the result of the treatment dose not always substantially decrease the patients' suffering. The herpes zoster vaccine was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administraton (FDA) in 2006 until now. It makes a great improvement in preventive medicine. In this article, we will try to discuss the efficacy of the herpes zoster vaccine in different gruops of people. The pathogenesis and clinical course of PHN will also be briefly mentionedhere.