title: High incidence of herpes zoster in patients with AIDS soon after therapy with protease inhibitors.
abstract: A high incidence of herpes zoster was noticed among patients with AIDS, shortly after addition of a protease inhibitor to their baseline treatment with nucleoside analogue reverse-transcriptase inhibitors. Within a median follow-up of 64 weeks (range, 34-103 weeks), 14 patients (7%) had a first episode or a recurrence of herpes zoster (6.2 episodes per 100 patient-years). No episodes of zoster were diagnosed before week 4. Twelve episodes (86%) occurred between weeks 4 and 16. The risk of zoster was independent of age, sex, type of protease inhibitor, and CD4+ lymphocyte count and viral load at baseline and month 1. A CD8+ lymphocyte proportion at baseline of > 66% (hazard ratio [HR], 10.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.4-33.1) and an increase in CD8+ lymphocyte proportion at month 1 of > 5% (HR, 32; 95% CI, 8.1-126.4) were independently associated with the risk of herpes zoster. These data might be clinically useful for determining transient prophylaxis for those patients at high risk.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Unit, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gatell
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morán
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aznar
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buira
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guelar
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mallolas
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Soriano
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D011480:Protease Inhibitors