Increased Risk of Herpes Zoster in Adults ≥50 Years Old Diagnosed With COVID-19 in the United States.
Open Forum Infect Dis
; 9(5): ofac118, 2022 May.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1784385
ABSTRACT
Background:
Case reports have described herpes zoster (HZ) in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, this constitutes low-quality evidence for an association. We therefore performed a retrospective cohort study to assess the risk of developing HZ following a COVID-19 diagnosis.Methods:
We compared the HZ incidence inâ ≥50-year-olds diagnosed with COVID-19 vs those never diagnosed with COVID-19. We used data from the US MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters and Medicare Supplemental (3/2020-2/2021) and Optum Clinformatics Data Mart (3-12/2020) databases. Individuals with COVID-19 were exact-matched 14 to those without COVID-19 by age, sex, presence of HZ risk factors, and health care cost level. Adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRRs) were estimated by Poisson regression.Results:
A total of 394 677 individualsâ ≥50 years old with COVID-19 were matched with 1 577 346 individuals without COVID-19. Mean follow-up time after COVID-19 diagnosis and baseline characteristics were balanced between cohorts. Individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 had a 15% higher HZ risk than those without COVID-19 (aIRR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.07-1.24; Pâ <â .001). The increased HZ risk was more pronounced (21%) following COVID-19 hospitalization (aIRR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.03-1.41; Pâ =â .02).Conclusions:
We found that COVID-19 diagnosis inâ ≥50-year-olds was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing HZ, highlighting the relevance of maintaining HZ vaccination.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
Language:
English
Journal:
Open Forum Infect Dis
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ofid
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