Brief report: Effectiveness and safety of recombinant zoster vaccine in inflammatory bowel disease patients aged 18 years and older: A matched cohort and self-controlled case series study

The adjusted VE of 2 RZV doses (≥4 weeks apart) against HZ was 65.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 40.6%–79.9%) in all IBD patients, 62.7% (17.2%–83.2%) in ulcerative colitis patients, and 70.2% (34.5%–86.4%) in Crohn’s disease patients. The VE of 2 doses administered 4 weeks-6 months apart in IBD patients was 62.9% (34.3%–79.1%). The rate ratio for IBD flares was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.58–1.12).

In conclusion, RZV provided protection against HZ in IBD patients with no increased risk of IBD flares observed.</p> <p>Herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, is a painful skin rash that develops from reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox. People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, have a higher risk of developing shingles, especially if they receive medications that lower their immune response.

A vaccine against shingles, known as RZV for “recombinant zoster vaccine,” is available. In this study, we looked at the health records of adults aged 18 years or older with IBD who had received RZV to see how often they developed shingles compared with adults with IBD who had not received the vaccine. We also looked to see if there was a higher risk of a person’s IBD symptoms suddenly getting worse in the 30 days after RZV vaccination.

For our study, we used electronic health records of people who received healthcare services with Kaiser Permanente Southern California between 2018 and 2024. We found that adults with IBD who received 2 doses of RZV given at least 4 weeks apart were 65% less likely to develop shingles than adults with IBD who didn’t receive the vaccine. In adults with IBD who received at least 1 dose of RZV, we found that vaccination did not increase the risk of IBD symptoms suddenly getting worse.

Overall, our results show that RZV provides some protection against developing shingles in adults with IBD and does not increase the risk of a flare-up of IBD symptoms.</p>