Shingles
GlaxoSmithKline announced on Monday that is has begun final trials for a new vaccine meant to prevent shingles.
More than 30,000 patients across the globe will take part in the Phase III trial, Reuters reports.
Shingles is an often debilitating condition for which there are limited treatment and prevention options," Norman Begg, chief medical officer of GSK Biologicals, said in a statement, Reuters reports. "That is why progression into late stage development of our herpes zoster vaccine is an important milestone in ongoing efforts to potentially help address an important unmet need."
The vermicelli-zoster virus causes Herpes Zoster, which is commonly known as shingles, and results in a painful rash on one side of the body.
There are an estimated 1 million shingles cases a year in the United States, Reuters reports, with cases generally occurring in children and young people.
Signs and symptoms of shingles include headache, fever and malaise. These symptoms are commonly followed by sensations of burning pain, itching, oversensitivity or the feeling of pins and needles. After one to two days, the initial phase of shingles is followed by the disease’s characteristic skin rash.
The rash, as the disease continues, can then form small blisters, which can result in scarring and discolor skin.