ABSTRACT
Introduction: Herpes zoster (HZ) is a common acute, cutaneous viral infection caused by reactivation of latent varicella zoster virus with devastating effects on quality of life. This study aims to describe the demographic and clinical characteristic and complications of HZ. Methodology: This was a retrospective study of 179 HZ patients from the Dermatology department of Penang Hospital between January 2010 and June 2013. Results: The 179 patients had a median age of 53 years. Chinese ethnicity was more affected. Majority of the patients came late to seek treatment with the median of disease duration of 4 days. The commonest presenting complaint was pain (98.9%), followed by itching (25.7%) and fever (9.5%). Single dermatome involvement was seen in 90.5% of the patients, of which the thoracic dermatome (54.9%) being the commonest. The incidence of complications such as secondary bacterial infection, post-herpertic neuralgia, eye complication(s) and scar were 36.3%, 4.5%, 5.6% and 2.8% respectively. The complications were not statistically different between the younger and the older patient. However, it was more common among male patients. Conclusion: Patients with HZ in Penang presented late and tend to have complications. Hence, public education and vaccination should be recommended.