Clinicoepidemiological study of herpes zoster at rural based tertiary center of Gujarat

Introduction: Herpes zoster is a very common clinical condition caused by varicella zoster virus. Few studies are done covering the aspects like clinical presentation, epidemiology of this very common yet old disease. Objective: To find out clinical presentation, morphological pattern, evolution of herpes zoster along with its comorbid conditions. Materials and Methods: This was an analytical study conducted from June 2008 to December 2016 based on a preformed proforma carried out at skin department of rural based tertiary health care center. We have used Chi square test to analyze and tabulate the data obtained. It is an Observational and cross-sectional study. Results: Total 938 patients of herpes zoster were enrolled in the study. The incidence of herpes zoster amongst skin OPD cases was found to be 0.38%. The male to female ratio was found to be 1.37:1. Herpes zoster was mainly seen in the age group of 40-60 years (33.8%). The most common prodromal symptom seen was itching in 458 cases (41.5%). Most common presenting complaint was pain in 458 patients (41.50%). The past history of chicken pox was present in 22.7% patients. The commonest segment affected was thoracic in 374 cases (38.9%). Unidermatomal involvement was seen in 886(94.5%) cases, while multidermatomal involvement was seen in 43(4.6%) cases and disseminated in 9 (0.9%) cases. All the cases were screened for HIV, out of them; 40 (4.3%) were seropositive for HIV. Conclusion: Herpes zoster more commonly occurs in the age group of 40-60 years. Most common presenting complaint is burning type of pain. Most common dermatome involved is thoracic dermatome.