BACKGROUND Vitamin C is an immune-relevant micronutrient, which is depleted in viral infections and this deficiency seems to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of herpes infections and in the development of postherpetic neuralgia. The objective of this observational multicenter study was to evaluate the utilization, safety and efficacy of intravenously administrated vitamin C in patients ...

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of self-reported herpes zoster (HZ) disease and vaccination in a geriatric population and to characterize the deciding factors to receive the HZ vaccine. METHODS This was a cross-sectional survey of patients older than age 60 years at 3 university-based primary care clinics in the southeastern United States. Participants provided information for age, rac...

OBJECTIVE To examine the epidemiology of chickenpox in Wales from 1986 to 2001. DESIGN Descriptive analysis of chickenpox consultations reported by the Welsh general practice sentinel surveillance scheme for infectious diseases, compared with annual shingles consultation rates from the same scheme to exclude reporting fatigue and data from a general practice morbidity database to validate res...

Background: There is increasing evidence that herpes zoster (HZ) incidence rates among children and adults (aged <60 years) with a history of natural varicella are influenced primarily by the frequency of exogenous exposures, while asymptomatic endogenous reactivations help to cap the rate at approximately 550 cases/ 100,000 person-years when exogenous boosting becomes rare. The Antelope Valley...

Primary infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes chickenpox (varicella) after which virus becomes latent in cranial nerve, dorsal root and autonomic ganglia along the entire neuraxis. Virus may later reactivate, causing shingles (zoster), characterized by pain and rash restricted to 1-3 dermatomes. More than 40% of zoster patients over age 60 develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), pain...