title: [Clinical and epidemiological aspects of herpes zoster].
abstract: Herpes zoster (HZ) is a public health problem worldwide. Although, there is paucity of data of this disease from South American countries. The objective of this study was to evaluate clinical and epidemiological aspects of HZ in a population of patients from South America. We underwent a retrospective analysis of clinical charts of an infectious diseases reference center (period: 2000-2005). Univariate analysis was performed to assess variables related to post herpetic neuralgia (PHN). From a total of 302 cases, 62% were in women. The median age was 57 years: 16.1% of the patients had a predisposing condition for the development of HZ. Most frequent dermatomes involved were: thoracic, ophthalmic and lumbar; 93.5% of the patients received antiviral drugs and 94% complementary medications. The most frequent complication was PHN and was related with age over 50 years. Clinical and epidemiological aspects of HZ and the frequency of complications in our population were similar to data from developed countries.
authors.affiliation: Fundación del Centro de Estudios Infectológicos, Buenos Aires, Argentina. cvujacich@funcei.org.ar
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vujacich
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Poggi
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cecchini
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Luchetti
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stamboulian
mesh_terms: D000212:Acyclovir / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D051474:Neuralgia, Postherpetic / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000212:Acyclovir