text_1: Shingles Vaccine Looks Like a Safe Bet for Seniors: Study
text_2: This story about a study of how the shingles vaccine performs in regular clinical use does a nice job of putting the pros and cons of the vaccine in a larger context. We also applaud how this story addresses the potential harms of the vaccine. This story reports both the relative risk reduction (55 percent) and absolute risk reduction (from 13 to 6 cases per 1,000 people per year), but we wish it had told readers that 71 people would have to be vaccinated in order to prevent one shingles attack. We encourage broader use of this sort of statistic about the number of people you need to treat in order for at least one person to benefit. However, like the other stories, this one does not tackle the limitations inherent in this sort of observational study. Shingles is a terribly painful condition caused by the chicken pox virus. It often reemerges late in life. Although a large clinical trial demonstrated that a vaccine could reduce the risk of shingles attacks and postherpetic neuralgia under idealized conditions, things are often different in the real world. This study of actual clinical experience adds an important perspective on the effects of the vaccine, but stories about this sort of study need to clearly address the limitations of observational trials and the ways that bias and confounding factors can muddy the results. Finally, the take-home message here is a clear need to promote shared decision-making between caregivers and patients on this issue, because this is not a slam dunk must-do vaccine.