"The herpes zoster vaccine could prevent tens of thousands of cases of shingles each year if it was offered to everyone who is eligible with vaccinated adults half as likely to develop shingles a study said.  In  the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine against shingles  a painful and potentially serious condition  for adults over . The vaccine has been tested but never under realworld conditions in regular doctors offices.  The study led by Hung Fu Tseng a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California compared about  vaccinated members of the Kaiser Permanente Health plan with about  similarly aged members who werent vaccinated.  We didnt know how well the vaccine actually performed in the community setting Tseng told Reuters Health.  Shingles is a viral disease produced by the chicken pox virus a common childhood disease and is characterized by pain and a blistering rash along the nerves that have housed the dormant virus.  Most shingles patients are older adults but people with a weak immune system or those under stress may also develop it.  Everyone in the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association was at least  years old and the researchers didnt include anybody for whom the live vaccine is not recommended.  Using electronic health records researchers tracked patients for up to three years after vaccination.  About six out of every  people vaccinated got shingles each year compared to  of every  unvaccinated patients. Researchers calculated that for every  people who were vaccinated one case of shingles was prevented.  But researchers cautioned that because they did not follow patients over the longer term they didnt know how effective the vaccine is years later.  Despite the FDAs approval the vaccine has not caught on as much as some had hoped.  Cost is one hurdle with the vaccine sometimes costing up to  for people whose insurance doesnt cover it. It also requires stringent storage and handling.  The human cost of shingles is enormous said Michael Oxman who studies infectious diseases at the University of California San Diego and was involved in a previous study of the vaccine.  Adult medicine is really geared toward diagnosis and treatment of existing diseases. The adult medical community is not as attuned to preventing disease... as pediatricians are he told Reuters Health.  SOURCE bit.lyfKolv httpbit.lyfKolv  Reporting by Genevra Pittman at Reuters Health editing by Elaine Lies Our StandardsThe Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. httpthomsonreuters.comenaboutustrustprinciples.html"