Inequalities in zoster disease burden: a population‐based cohort study to identify social determinants using linked data from the U.K. Clinical Practice Research Datalink

摘要

Summary This study, from a team working at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK, investigated a large group of patients aged 65 or over, seeing a GP between 2003 and 2013 who had experienced an attack of shingles (herpes zoster) during this period. The source of the information was an anonymised data base known as the Clinical Practice Research Data link which records information from many general practices in England. The data was obtained before the introduction of the zoster (shingles) vaccine in the UK. Amongst over 37,000 patients with shingles there was a higher rate of infection in those living in care homes, in females and in nonmigrants or in those with white ethnicity as well as those living alone. There were slightly fewer cases of shingles in those living in deprived circumstances. Although patients taking treatments that reduced the overall level of immunity were more likely to develop shingles, diabetic patients were not. The authors suggest that it might be helpful to promote immunization in some of these groups, such as those living in care homes.