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77 EW MEETING REPORTER May 2015 ty—receive the vaccine. Since 2011, the vaccine has also been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Adminis- tration (FDA) for persons aged 50–59 with similar criteria. However, Dr. Cohen believes the vaccine is best administered earlier than recommended. "In my opinion, it is better to get the zoster vaccine in your 50s and 60s, but it is never too late," she said. Nonetheless, the CDC main- tains its recommendation due to inadequate information for cost-benefit analysis—for instance, the duration of the vaccine's effect is unknown. In which case, she said, revaccination after 10 years may be worth investigating. Dr. Cohen reiterated the safety of the vaccine, citing its contraindi- cations, which are no different from those of other vaccines—among others, a history of anaphylactic reaction to the components of the vaccine and prolonged high-dose systemic immunosuppressive ther- apy. The full list of contraindica- tions and other information on the vaccine can be found on the CDC website (www.cdc.gov). Ultimately, Dr. Cohen urged ophthalmologists to strongly recom- mend the vaccine against zoster. EW Editors' note: Dr. Cohen has no fina - cial interests related to her lecture. tion of cardiac arteries—is a risk for relatively young patients. There is also a correlation between zoster and cancers such as lymphoma. More recently, VZV antigen and DNA have been identified in temp - ral biopsies of giant cell (temporal) arteritis (GCA), and VZV antigens are now considered a trigger for GCA. Antiviral treatment may thus benefit steroid-treated GCA patients In general, antiviral treatment of herpes zoster reduces the risk of chronic eye disease from 50% to 30% of cases, but does not reduce the risk of postherpetic neuralgia. Antiviral therapy, Dr. Cohen said, should begin in all patients with herpes zoster as soon as possi- ble. "One can't predict who will get severe complications," she said. Prolonged antiviral treatment, she added, requires further investi- gation but may have a role. Prevention where possible is certainly better than treatment. The zoster vaccine, she said, is safe and effective in reducing the burden of illness, as well as the severity of pos- therpetic neuralgia. By preventing VZV infection, it effectively reduces the incidence of zoster. Dr. Cohen said that since 2006, the CDC has recommended that persons aged 60 and above with competent immune systems—partic- ularly unimpaired cellular immuni- View videos from Thursday at WCCVII: EWrePlay.org Amar Agarwal, MD, Chennai, India, discusses a technique for IOL implantation and Soemmering ring removal. More photos from "Showdown in San Diego" are available at daily.eyeworld.org in EyeWorld Daily News, Sunday edition