No Consistent Evidence of Decreased Exposure to Varicella-Zoster Virus Among Older Adults in Countries with Universal Varicella Vaccination

By repurposing humoral and cell-mediated immunogenicity data from a large multinational trial enrolling adults aged >= 50 years, we found no consistent evidence of differences in varicella-zoster virus exposure between countries with widely circulating varicella versus countries with universal vaccination. Background Universal varicella vaccination might reduce opportunities for varicella-zoster virus (VZV) exposure and protective immunological boosting, thus increasing herpes zoster incidence in latently infected adults. We assessed humoral and cell-mediated immunity (CMI), as markers of VZV exposure, in adults aged >= 50 years. Methods We repurposed data from placebo recipients in a large multinational clinical trial (ZOE-50). Countries were clustered based on their varicella vaccination program characteristics, as having high, moderate, or low VZV circulation. Anti-VZV antibody geometric mean concentrations, median frequencies of VZV-specific CD4 T cells, and percentages of individuals with increases in VZV-specific CD4 T-cell frequencies were compared across countries and clusters. Sensitivity analyses using a variable number of time points and different thresholds were performed for CMI data. Results VZV-specific humoral immunity from 17 countries (12 high, 2 moderate, 3 low circulation) varied significantly between countries (P < .0001) but not by VZV circulation. No significant differences were identified in VZV-specific CMI between participants from 2 high versus 1 low circulation country. In 3/5 sensitivity analyses, increases in CMI were more frequent in high VZV circulation countries (.03 <= P < .05). Conclusions We found no consistent evidence of reduced VZV exposure among older adults in countries with universal varicella vaccination.