Chickenpox Shot Tied to Big Drop in Shingles for This Group

Young adults who grew up with the chickenpox shot are now seeing a payoff: fewer cases of shingles. A new analysis of electronic health records from more than 85 million US patients finds shingles rates have dropped notably in people under 35, the first cohort widely vaccinated against chickenpox since the shot was added to the childhood schedule in 1995, reports NBC News. Between 2019 and 2026, shingles cases fell sharply among 18- to 34-year-olds, with rates in some age brackets cut by more than half.

Researchers say the pattern supports the idea that preventing chickenpox lowers the odds of the virus reemerging later as shingles, though it's too early to know if the protection will hold as this group ages. Meanwhile, shingles continues to climb in adults 35 and up, who largely had chickenpox as kids, not the vaccine. The CDC notes that about 1 in 3 people in the US will develop shingles at least once in their lifetime. More from Health.com here on when young adults do come down with shingles.