Varicella vaccine could be effective zoster prophylactic for older patients

Stanford, Calif. - Use of an inactivated varicella vaccine may prevent immunocompromised patients from developing varicella-zoster virus infection for up to a year, Ann Arvin, M.D., said. She and colleagues published a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing up to 20 percent fewer patients who were varicella seropositive developed zoster a year after a hematopoietic cell transplant.