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  • Prevalence of Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus

    By Lynda Seminara
    Selected By: Stephen D. McLeod, MD
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    Journal Highlights

    Ophthalmology, March 2020

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    Kong et al. assessed the incidence of herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) and explored potential relationships between HZO and age, sex, race, and geographic region. They found that the incidence of HZO climbed 3.6% annually from 1994-2018 in the United States and that female and white indi­viduals were at greatest risk.

    This claims-based and electronic health record dataset included patients with a new ICD-9 or ICD-10 code for herpes zoster and HZO in the Optum­Labs Data Warehouse. The incidence rate of HZO was calculated by calendar year, 10-year age group, gender, race, and region. Main outcomes were differ­ences in incidence rate throughout the 15-year study period.

    Of the 633,474 reported cases of herpes zoster, there were 49,745 (7.9%) cases involving the eye. During this period, the annual incidence of HZO increased by approximately 1.1 case per 100,000 person-years (p < .001); the estimated relative increase was 3.6% annually. The incidence of HZO increased in all but the youngest age group until 2007 and then started declining for those under 21 and older than 60. The incidence rate stabilized in 21- to 30-year-olds and increased less dramatically in 31- to 60-year-olds.

    Women had a higher incidence rate than men (44.5 vs. 33.1 cases per 100,000 person-years, respectively), and incidence rates by race were 43.1 for whites, 32.2 for blacks, 30 for Asians, and 27.5 for Hispan­ics. Individuals in northeast­ern states were most likely to be affected by HZO, while those in western states were least likely.

    Given the possible shift in HZO burden toward mid­dle-aged people, “it is crucial for clinicians to support vaccination efforts for individuals 50 years of age and older,” the authors said.

    The original article can be found here.