帶狀皰疹疫苗對於帶狀皰疹後神經痛之預防以及減低疾病症狀之程度

The Efficacy of Herpes Zoster Vaccine in the Prevention and Decreasing the Severity of Postherpetic Neuralgia

帶狀皰疹後神經痛，是經常出現於急性帶狀皰疹感染後的合併症。其所帶來之症狀往往大大地影響病患的生活品質，例如睡眠、食慾等。在台灣邁向高齡化的社會同時，老年人口的族群逐漸增加，也正是最可能遭受此病痛所苦的一群。直至現今，已經有許多的藥物與帶狀皰疹後神經痛診療指引可供我們參考及使用。然而現存的治療往往無法完全減低帶狀皰疹後神經痛之惱人症狀。美國藥物與食品管理局於2006年通過了帶狀皰疹疫苗的合格使用，這在預防醫學上是個重要的突破。在本篇文章中，我們將討論帶狀皰疹疫苗對於帶狀皰疹後神經痛之預防以及減低疾病症狀之程度，同時也將簡單回顧帶狀皰疹後神經痛之病因以及病程。

Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a common complication of acute herpes zoster (HZ) infection. Symptoms can cause severe impairment to daily activities such as sleep and appetite. The elderly is the most affected group as Taiwan society is going to be an aged one. Many medication and guidelines have been published for this irritating problem. But the result of the treatment does not always substantially decrease the patients' suffering. The herpes zoster vaccine was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administraton (FDA) in 2006 until now. It makes a great improvement in preventive medicine. In this article, we will try to discuss the efficacy of the herpes zoster vaccine in different gruops of people. The pathogenesis and clinical course of PHN will also be briefly mentioned here.