A nasty rash isn’t the only thing this shot may spare you from.
A new study from the University of Southern California found that a recommended vaccine for older adults may not only prevent a painful viral infection but also help slow the aging process.
“While further research is needed to replicate and extend these findings … our study adds to a growing body of work suggesting that vaccines may play a role in healthy aging strategies beyond solely preventing acute illness,” Dr. Eileen Crimmins, co-author of the study, said in a statement.
To dig deeper, Crimmins and her team looked at people who had received a vaccine designed to prevent shingles.
Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, causes a painful, blistering rash when the virus responsible for chickenpox reactivates later in life.
Anyone who’s had chickenpox can develop shingles, but the risk rises sharply with age, particularly after 50, or among people with weakened immune systems.
Though childhood chickenpox has become rare — cases have dropped by more than 97% since the vaccine was added to the routine childhood immunization schedule in 1995 — more than 95% of US adults were infected before that shift, according to the CDC.
Today, about 1 million Americans develop shingles each year.
The federal government recommends that adults 50 and older receive two doses of the shingles vaccine, which lowers the risk of infection and reduces the chance of postherpetic neuralgia — lingering nerve pain that can last months or even years after the rash fades.
But the USC researchers wanted to know whether it might be doing more behind the scenes.
They analyzed data from more than 3,800 adults age 70 and older, drawn from the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study. Using blood samples, the team examined seven different markers of biological aging.
Unlike the number of candles on your birthday cake, biological aging reflects how well your organs and systems are actually functioning over time.
The team found that, on average, the vaccinated participants had significantly lower levels of inflammation — a major driver of aging-related illnesses, such as heart disease, frailty and cognitive decline.
“By helping to reduce this background inflammation — possibly by preventing reactivation of the virus that causes shingles, the vaccine may play a role in supporting healthier aging,” explained Dr. Jung Ki Kim, the study’s first author.
“While the exact biological mechanisms remain to be understood, the potential for vaccination to reduce inflammation makes it a promising addition to broader strategies aimed at promoting resilience and slowing age-related decline,” she continued.
Vaccinated adults also showed slower changes in how their genes switch “on” and “off,” as well as in how their genetic instructions are converted into proteins — two critical markers known as epigenetic and transcriptomic aging, respectively.
When researchers combined all seven measures into a single biological aging score, those who had received the shot came out ahead, aging more slowly on average than their unvaccinated peers.
The findings follow previous studies linking adult vaccines — including those for shingles and flu — to lower risks of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson’s.
“This study adds to emerging evidence that vaccines could play a role in promoting healthy aging by modulating biological systems beyond infection prevention,” said Kim, a research associate professor of gerontology at USC’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
And the benefits may persist over time.
Even participants who had gotten the vaccine four or more years before their blood was drawn still showed slower epigenetic, transcriptomic and overall biological aging compared with those who skipped the shot.
“These findings indicate that shingles vaccination influences key domains linked to the aging process,” said Crimmins, USC University Professor and AARP Professor of Gerontology.
If future studies confirm the results, the research could give Americans yet another reason to roll up their sleeves — and help boost lagging vaccination rates.
Despite a pandemic-era bump, just 30.1% of eligible Americans had received the shingles vaccine as of 2022.
