Abstract
BackgroundThe burden of herpes zoster (HZ) is significant worldwide, with millions affected and the incidence rising. Current literature has identified some risk factors for this disease; however, there is yet to be a comprehensive study that pools all evidence to provide estimates of risk. Therefore, The purpose of this study was to identify various risk factors, excluding immunosuppressive medication, that may predispose an individual to developing herpes zoster.MethodsThe literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, Web of Science, CAB Direct, yielding case–control, cohort and cross-sectional studies that were pooled from January 1966 to September 2018. Search terms included: zoster OR herpe*OR postherpe*OR shingle*AND riskOR immunosupp*OR stress OR trauma OR gender OR ethnicity OR race OR age OR diabetes OR asthma OR chronic obstructive pulmonary disease OR diabetes. Risk ratios for key risk factors were calculated via natural logarithms and pooled using random effects modeling.ResultsFrom a total of 4417 identified studies, 93 were included in analysis (n = 3826134 HZ cases). Immunosuppression through HIV/AIDS (RR 3.25; 95% CI 2.47–4.27) or malignancy (RR 2.17; 95% CI 1.86–2.53) significantly increased the risk of HZ compared with controls. Family history was also associated with a greater risk (RR 2.48; 95% CI 1.70–3.60), followed by physical trauma (RR 2.01; 95% CI 1.39–2.91) and older age (RR 1.68; 95% CI 1.41–2.01). A slightly smaller risk was seen those with psychological stress, females, and comorbidities such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, renal disease, SLE, and IBD compared with controls (RR range: 2.08 to 1.25). We found that black race had lower rates of HZ development RR 0.69 (95% CI 0.56–0.85).ConclusionThis study demonstrated patients with family history of HZ, older age, female sex, have particular comorbidities or are immunosuppressed have an elevated risk of herpes zoster. Patients with these characteristics are prime candidates for vaccination.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.
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