Update in Herpes Zoster Prevention and the Role of Dermatologists

A recombinant vaccine (HZ/su) was approved in 2017 to prevent herpes zoster (HZ) infection and associated sequelae with greater efficacy and safety than its live precursor. Though dermatologists regularly encounter patients with HZ infection, recommendation of vaccination by dermatologists and other physicians has been minimal in past years. Overall patient awareness and utilization of the HZ vaccines has subsequently been low. While HZ/su touts several improvements over the live vaccine, dermatologists still face obstacles to vaccine recommendation and administration including concerns of efficacy, limited availability, and complex cost and reimbursement for administration. Additionally, dermatologists have not historically played a systematic role in the recommendation and administration of vaccines. A review of literature was completed to identify the current role of dermatologists in HZ prevention, the efficacy and safety of HZ/su, potential barriers to recommendation by dermatologists, and the feasibility of vaccine administration in dermatology offices. Pubmed/MEDLINE was used as the primary search database. Ultimately, widespread encouragement of dermatologists to recommend vaccination against HZ is crucial, and dermatologists are in a prime position to make the vaccine more accessible to their patient population.