SynthesisPloS one2018
Association of herpesviruses and stroke: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Viral Infections and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of respiratory viral triggers for acute myocardial infarction and stroke.Cardiovascular research · 2025Pooled it
- Herpesvirus latent infection promotes stroke via activating the OTUD1/NF-κB signaling pathway.Aging · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of herpes zoster vaccination and antiviral treatment on the risk of stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Pooled it
- RNF213 in Panvascular Disease: A Molecular Hub Linking Genetic Susceptibility to Systemic Vasculopathy.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Metagenomic analysis of blood virome in ischemic stroke reveals an increase in herpesvirus transcripts and host immune activation.Genome medicine · 2026Article
- Predisposing Factors, Pathologies, and Precipitating Factors Causing Intracerebral Hemorrhage.Stroke · 2026Review
- Adjuvanted Recombinant Zoster Vaccine is Effective Against Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus, and is Associated With Lower Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction and Stroke in Adults Aged ≥50 Years.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- Acyclic graphs to define models of relationships between human cytomegalovirus, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in UK Biobank.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- The association of premature atherosclerosis with ischemic stroke in young people with HIV in Lusaka, Zambia.Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association · 2025Article
- Infection in Childhood Arterial Ischemic Stroke: Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing Results of the VIPS II Study.Stroke · 2025Article
- Herpes zoster as risk factor for dementia: a matched cohort study over 20 years in a 10-million population in Italy.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025Article
- The role of atherosclerosis in HIV-associated vasculopathy in young South African stroke patients.HIV medicine · 2025Article
- The Regulation of Messenger RNAs and Biological Pathways by Long Non-Coding RNAs and Circular RNAs in Ischemic Stroke.Neurochemical research · 2025Article
- Herpes simplex virus infection of the central nervous system presenting as a stroke: Case report and review of the literature.IDCases · 2025Article
- Intersecting Pathways: The Role of Metabolic Dysregulation, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, and Inflammation in Acute Ischemic Stroke Pathogenesis and Outcomes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Herpes zoster associated with stroke incidence in people living with human immunodeficiency virus: a nested case-control study.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pediatric Arterial Ischemic Stroke.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2023Review
- Antibodies to Human Herpesviruses and Rate of Incident Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality in the UK Biobank Infectious Disease Pilot Study.Open forum infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Intracranial Large Artery Stenosis and Past Infectious Exposures: Results From the NOMAS Cohort.Stroke · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHerpesviruses induce a range of inflammatory effects potentially contributing to an increased risk of stroke.
objectivesTo investigate whether patients with infection, or reactivation of, human herpesviruses are at increased stroke risk, compared to those without human herpesviruses. DATA SOURCES: Six medical databases and grey literature sources from inception to January 2017. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies where the exposure was any human herpesvirus and the outcome was stroke. We included randomised controlled trials, cohort, case-control, case-crossover and self-controlled case series designs.
methodsMeta-analyses when sufficiently homogeneous studies were available. Quality of evidence across studies was assessed.
resultsWe identified 5012 publications; 41 met the eligibility criteria. Across cohort and self-controlled case series studies, there was moderate quality evidence that varicella infection in children was associated with a short-term increased stroke risk. Zoster was associated with a 1.5-fold increased stroke risk four weeks following onset (summary estimate: 1.55, 95%CI 1.46-1.65), which resolved after one year. Subgroup analyses suggested post-zoster stroke risk was greater among ophthalmic zoster patients, younger individuals and those not prescribed antivirals. Recent infection/reactivation of cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex viruses, but not past infection, was associated with increased stroke risk; however the evidence across studies was mainly derived from small, very low quality case-control studies.
conclusionsOur review shows an increased stroke risk following zoster and suggests that recent infection or reactivation of other herpesviruses increases stroke risk, although better evidence is needed. Herpesviruses are common and potentially preventable; these findings may have implications for reducing stroke burden.
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