Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31677266›Full record

SynthesisClinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America2020

Herpes Zoster Risk in Immunocompromised Adults in the United States: A Systematic Review.

Susannah L McKay, Angela Guo, Steven A Pergam, Kathleen Dooling

Open access · bronzeAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
83citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

83 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 132 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Corticosteroids for preventing postherpetic neuralgia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023
    Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Article
  9. Varicella zoster virus infection.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Susannah L McKayEpidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Angela GuoDivision of Viral Diseases, National Center Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Steven A PergamVaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Kathleen DoolingDivision of Viral Diseases, National Center Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases · USCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · USSeattle Cancer Care Alliance · US

Funding

Intramural CDC HHS CC999999
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe primary reported risk factors for herpes zoster (HZ) include increasing age and immunodeficiency, yet estimates of HZ risk by immunocompromising condition have not been well characterized. We undertook a systematic literature review to estimate the HZ risk in immunocompromised patients.

methodsWe systematically reviewed studies that examined the risk of HZ and associated complications in adult patients with hematopoietic cell transplants (HCT), cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and solid organ transplant (SOT). We identified studies in PubMed, Embase, Medline, Cochrane, Scopus, and clinicaltrials.gov that presented original data from the United States and were published after 1992. We assessed the risk of bias with Cochrane or Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methods.

resultsWe identified and screened 3765 records and synthesized 34 studies with low or moderate risks of bias. Most studies that were included (32/34) reported at least 1 estimate of the HZ cumulative incidence (range, 0-41%). There were 12 studies that reported HZ incidences that varied widely within and between immunocompromised populations. Incidence estimates ranged from 9 to 92 HZ cases/1000 patient-years and were highest in HCT, followed by hematologic malignancies, SOT, and solid tumor malignancies, and were lowest in people living with HIV. Among 17 HCT studies, the absence of or use of antiviral prophylaxis at <1 year post-transplant was associated with a higher HZ incidence.

conclusionsHZ was common among all immunocompromised populations studied, exceeding the expected HZ incidence among immunocompetent adults aged ≥60 years. Better evidence of the incidence of HZ complications and their severity in immunocompromised populations is needed to inform economic and HZ vaccine policies.

Indexed as

Herpes ZosterHerpes Zoster VaccineNeuralgia, PostherpeticAdultHerpesvirus 3, HumanHumansImmunocompromised HostIncidenceMiddle AgedUnited StatesHerpes Zoster Vaccineherpes zosterimmunocompromisedpostherpetic neuralgiaRZVVZV

Identifiers

PMID31677266
PMCPMC7195255
OpenAlexW2984774302

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.