Herpes Zoster as a Predictor of HIV Infection in Taiwan: A Population-Based Study.

Yuan-Ti Lee,Shu-Yi Hsu,Cheng-Feng Jan,Hung-Chang Hung,Yung-Po Liaw,Oswald Ndi Nfor,Disline Manli Tantoh,Wen-Yuan Ku,Pei-Chieh Ko,Jing-Yang Huang,Graciela Andrei

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142254

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association between herpes zoster (HZ) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Data were retrieved from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Databases (LHID 2005 and 2010), Taiwan. The International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] codes were used to identify Hz from 2001–2004. Identification of HIV infection was from 2005–2010. The hazard ratios of HIV among herpes zoster infected and non-herpes zoster infected patients were estimated using multiple Cox proportional hazard model. In general, 19685 participants were identified with Hz. The HIV incidence rates (per 104 person-months) in herpes zoster infected and non-infected patients were 0.191(95% CI 0.130–0.280) and 0.079 (95% CI 0.074–0.084), respectively while the hazard ratio (HR) of HIV among infected individuals was 3.518 (95% CI 2.375–5.211). This study concludes that herpes zoster could be considered as a predictor of HIV infection especially among Asian populations, hence it is vital to test herpes zoster infected individuals for HIV antibodies.

Highlights

Infection with varicella-zoster virus causes chicken pox
The prevalence proportion of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was 13.09 and 5.52 among herpes zoster infected and non-herpes zoster infected patients respectively (Table 1)
The incidence of HIV was 0.191 and 0.079 for both the infected and noninfected patients, respectively (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Infection with varicella-zoster virus causes chicken pox. The virus is capable of remaining latent in the neuronal cell bodies after resolution of the initial occurrence of chicken pox. The immune system eliminates it from most locations and suppresses its reactivation but sometimes, suppression can fail. Herpes zoster (Hz) occurs as a result of reactivation of the virus. It is common in people with compromised immune systems due to aging and psychological stress and other infections such as HIV [1, 2]. Occurrence of Hz in young adults is uncommon. Infection among young adults have been reported in sub-Saharan Africa where it has PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0142254. Infection among young adults have been reported in sub-Saharan Africa where it has PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0142254 November 4, 2015

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