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Cited by 938

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 100 of the 100 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Systematic review of incidence and complications of herpes zoster: towards a global perspective

Open access
Kawai, Kosuke, Gebremeskel, Berhanu G, Acosta, Camilo J·2014·BMJ Open
DOI 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-004833
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Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to characterise the incidence rates of herpes zoster (HZ), also known as shingles, and risk of complications across the world. Design: We systematically reviewed studies examining the incidence rates of HZ, temporal trends of HZ, the risk of complications including postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) and HZ-associated hospitalisation and mortality rates in the general population. The literature search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE and the WHO library up to December 2013. Results: We included 130 studies conducted in 26 countries. The incidence rate of HZ ranged between 3 and 5/1000 person-years in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, based on studies using prospective surveillance, electronic medical record data or administrative data with medical record review. A temporal increase in the incidence of HZ was reported in the past several decades across seven countries, often occurring before the introduction of varicella vaccination programmes. The risk of developing PHN varied from 5% to more than 30%, depending on the type of study design, age distribution of study populations and definition. More than 30% of patients with PHN experienced persistent pain for more than 1 year. The risk of recurrence of HZ ranged from 1% to 6%, with long-term follow-up studies showing higher risk (5–6%). Hospitalisation rates ranged from 2 to 25/100 000 person-years, with higher rates among elderly populations. Conclusions: HZ is a significant global health burden that is expected to increase as the population ages. Future research with rigorous methods is important.

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Metadata

Authors
Kawai, K., Gebremeskel, B. G., & Acosta, C. J.
Venue
BMJ Open
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2014-06
Volume
4
Issue
6
Pages
e004833
ISSN
2044-6055 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1136/bmjopen-2014-004833
OpenAlex
W2040947756
Cited by
938
References
100
FWCI
6.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
gold

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Systematic review of incidence and complications of herpes zoster: towards a global perspective. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-004833
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Kawai, K., Gebremeskel, B. G., & Acosta, C. J. (2014). Systematic review of incidence and complications of herpes zoster: towards a global perspective. BMJ Open. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-004833

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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.

Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.