Shingles Vaccine Could Also Battle Heart Attacks and Strokes
A vaccine long trusted to block that nasty herpes zoster rash is now looking like a possible heart-health hero too. Big news.
The shingles jab is already up to 97 % effective at curbing painful rashes caused by the herpes zoster virus. But hold on, now a fresh meta-study, spearheaded by Charles Williams of GSK, suggests it might also reduce the chance of heart attacks and strokes.
Crunching data from 19 earlier studies, Williams found a 16 % lower risk of cardiac events, heart attack, or stroke in adults over 50. And for those aged 18 to 50? An 18 % drop. Impressive.
These findings will be unveiled at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Madrid, happening on Saturday, 30 August 2025.
Vaccine against shingles could slash heart attack risk by a fifth, research presented at Europe’s biggest heart conference suggestshttps://t.co/YYM0sG0ogK#ESCCongress @escardio @ESCardioNews pic.twitter.com/MNsHaNZYaV
— Martin Bagot (@MartinBagot) August 29, 2025
And this isn’t the first sign of cross-system benefits. Earlier in 2025, one study suggested the shingles vaccine may lower dementia risk by 20 %. Another linked Zostavax to a 26 % decline in deaths from heart disease.
Shingles itself hasn’t been kind to hearts. One study found it triggered clot-forming sacs that raise stroke risk. Another study revealed adults who had shingles faced a 30 % higher chance of a cardiovascular event afterwards.
So the idea that a jab stopping shingles might also aid the heart makes sense. But we mustn’t rush.
Williams himself urges caution: “While our findings are encouraging, there are some limitations to the available data that we studied. Almost all the evidence came from observational studies, which are prone to bias and shouldn’t be used to infer causality.
All the studies used in the meta-analysis aimed primarily to investigate the use of herpes zoster vaccine to prevent shingles in the general population, which may limit the ability to generalise this research to people with a higher risk of cardiovascular events.
This demonstrates the need for more research in this area.”
On another note, the NHS is launching a new childhood vaccine next year. A chickenpox jab for free on the NHS from January 2026 will be combined with the MMR vaccine into an MMRV jab for infants. It’s a huge development for public health in England.
Brace yourself for a vaccine with double duty: stopping shingles, and maybe saving your heart.
