English 
Francais 
عربي 
The vaccine against shingles on the way
[mis à jour le 15 October 2006 à 15h46]
Following promising clinical trials, Zostavax, the first vaccine against shingles, has been given a favourable opinion by the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA). This was announced yesterday by Sanofi Pasteur MSD laboratories.
This vaccine is aimed at preventing infections of adults by the chickenpox virus which are responsible for shingles and very painful post-shingles pain involving a feeling of burning or even extremely violent pain which occurs after the skin reactions caused by shingles have been cured. They can last for months or even years.
Every year in the European Union, approximately 1.5 million people are affected by shingles. Two out of three are over the age of 50. If it is approved, this vaccine will be the only way of preventing this disease. But European marketing authorisation must still be obtained. When will this happen? It is too early to tell yet. The same situation is occurring in the United States where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been examining the registration file since April 2005. Source: Sanofi Pasteur MSD, 27 March 2006
Print this article
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Send to a friend
Convert to pdf
Copyright Authorization
