A sharp rise in shingles cases in South Korea is adding momentum to calls for the vaccine to be included in the National Immunization Program (NIP).
Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which typically triggers chickenpox in childhood and then remains dormant in the body before reactivating when immunity weakens. The pain is severe enough to have given rise to a Korean saying that it hurts "as if being torn apart at the mere brush of a shirt collar."
Early warning signs include chills, fever, and numbness or pain on one side of the body, followed three to seven days later by red patches and blisters that spread along nerve pathways. If the virus reaches the area around the eyes or the brain, it can lead to blindness or meningitis.
The lifetime prevalence of shingles is about 30%. It most often appears in people in their 50s and older, though cases have become more frequent among younger people with weakened immune function. Winter, a member of the K-pop group aespa, was diagnosed with shingles and missed a concert last month. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of patients rose 17.9% over a decade, from 646,710 in 2014 to 762,709 in 2024. Among patients aged 50 and over, the group where incidence climbs most sharply, the figure grew 30.4% over the same period, from 389,771 to 508,106.
Shingles is widely regarded as a disease for which prevention works better than treatment. Multiple international studies have found that the live shingles vaccine significantly reduces the incidence of the disease in older adults while also lowering the risk of severe cases and neurological complications.
Against this backdrop, Rep. Kim Yoon of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, has pressed the case for shingles vaccination. According to parliamentary audit data the lawmaker obtained from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the recurrence rate among shingles patients aged 65 and over reached 28.8%, meaning three in 10 patients endure the intense pain a second time. The number of recurrent cases per 100,000 people in that group was also 2.3 times the average across all ages. Even so, only 175 of the country's 230 local governments, or 76.1%, provide support for shingles vaccination. The remaining 23.9% offer no budget support at all. Eligibility rules also differ by locality in terms of age and income thresholds, meaning access to the vaccine depends on where a person lives.
"The disease burden among older adults is very heavy, yet programs run separately by each local government have created a patchwork of benefits and serious regional gaps," Kim said. "Considering cost-effectiveness and the quality of life of older adults, the vaccine should be folded immediately into a unified National Immunization Program at the central government level."
Lim Seung-kwan, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said it is time to discuss bringing shingles vaccination into the state management system for oversight and support. "That said, more active and in-depth discussion is needed within academia and across government ministries on which groups to target and which funding sources to use," he said. Earlier, a vaccination management law passed by the National Assembly's plenary session on the 1st of this month broadened the scope of the national vaccination program from specified infectious diseases to a more comprehensive range of illnesses.
