Epidemic of herpes zoster following HIV epidemic in Manipur, India.
Since 1989, injecting drug use (IDU) related HIV infection has affected thousands of young adults in Manipur, a north eastern state of India bordering Myanmar following a similar kind of epidemic in adjoining countries like Thailand and Myanmar. During a clinical surveillance of a group of HIV positive IDUs for a natural history study at Manipur, herpes zoster (HZ) emerged as the most specific early HIV related illness (positive predictive value of 100%) in patients belonging to the age group of 12-45 years. Data collected from the dermatology departments of the two main hospitals of the state revealed that there had been an epidemic of HZ since 1990 (rate of 1990 being 11.3/1000 compared to 6.5/1000 in 1989, P value < 0.0001) among males of 12-45 years. The epidemic of HZ has been attributed to the preceding epidemic of IDU related HIV in the same age and gender group occurring 1 year earlier. HZ should be recognised as a marker condition similar to tuberculosis indicating the necessity of screening for HIV in regions where the dual problem of IDU and HIV exist in young adults.
Panda
S
S
ICMR Unit for Research on AIDS in north eastern states of India, Calcutta.
Sarkar
S
S
Mandal
B K
BK
Singh
T B
TB
Singh
K L
KL
Mitra
D K
DK
Sarkar
K
K
Tripathy
S P
SP
Deb
B C
BC
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous