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Cornea Society News – published quarterly by the Cornea Society 4 Castroviejo Lecture at the 2015 AAO annual meeting Society looking for VISTA Dinner hosts E lisabeth Cohen, MD, New York, gave the Castroviejo Lecture on herpes zoster at the 2015 Ameri- can Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting. According to a PubMed search, in the first 8 months of 2015, 300 articles were published each on herpes zoster and herpes simplex, she said. There is an increasing incidence of zoster and decreasing age of onset of zoster, Dr. Cohen said. There is an on- going debate on the role of the varicella vaccine in zoster epidemiology. There are risk factors before and after zoster to consider, as well as an ongoing debate relating to efficacy, safety, and timing of the vaccination. It's estimated that the number of new cases per year in the U.S. is 1.2 million. Among people age 85 and older, there is a 7% mortality that has been reported, Dr. Cohen said. "It is a common misconception to think that healthy people are not at risk for zoster," she said. The rate of zoster goes up with age, and the number of cases is highest for those in their 50s. In Dr. Cohen's opinion, it is better to get the vaccine in your 50s and 60s, but she said that it is never too late. Worldwide insurance coverage of the zoster vaccine is very limited, Dr. Cohen said. In the U.S., the underusage of the zoster vaccine remains a public health problem. Less than one quarter of eligi- ble people age 60 and up have received it, Dr. Cohen added. Barriers to the vaccine include high cost, complex and partial reimbursement, frozen storage, and lack of strong recommendation from physicians. Dr. Cohen's lecture covered a new vaccine against zoster, adjuvanted herpes zoster subunit, which is being studied currently. It has shown efficacy in studies, but the adjuvant used is not currently licensed by the FDA in the U.S., and Dr. Cohen said it will take years to become available in the U.S. To conclude her lecture, Dr. Cohen shared some of the lessons that she has learned from her personal experience with zoster. In terms of being a patient, she said that she learned what it is really like to not see well and that loss of vi- sion in one eye is much worse than she previously thought. Although she had competent and caring doctors, she noted that it's very hard to be a patient. However, Dr. Cohen said to seize and enjoy opportunities to make contri- butions. She has found that she's been able to do more research and work more with medical school students. CN Editors' note: Dr. Cohen has no related financial interests. T he Cornea Society hosts the Cornea Society VISTA Dinner every year at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthal- mology (ARVO) meeting and is looking for volunteers who would be interested in hosting the event. The dinner takes place on Sunday from 7:00–10:00 p.m. and features a keynote lecture and a va- riety of free paper presentations. The hosts/coordinators review the submitted abstracts for inclusion in the program (usually this is a small number), select those that present, and order the presentations in a logical fashion. The hosts/coordinators also select the guest speaker (named lecture) and commu- nicate with the speaker concerning the lecture, topic, and length. The hosts/ coordinators arrive at least 30–45 min- utes early for the meeting, and ensure tables, seating, and AV are all adequate; they direct seating to have a good mix of senior to junior physicians at the tables. They also work as a sergeant-at-arms, in that we do enforce that attendees need to have registered in advance. During the meeting they work as MCs/moderators, direct discussion, and keep the meeting moving on time. The hosts/coordinators make sure discussion is equally distribut- ed around the room and faculty. Interested parties should email their CV and letter of interest to Gail Albert, executive director, at galbert@ corneasociety.org by February 1. CN From left: Christopher Rapuano, MD, Peter Laibson, MD, Deborah Pavan-Langston, MD, Claes Dohlman, MD, PhD, 2015 Castroviejo Medalist Elisabeth Cohen, MD, and William Bourne, MD