ReviewInfection2022
Herpes zoster and COVID-19 infection: a coincidence or a causal relationship?
Review in Infection, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 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
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Serious neurological adverse events in immunocompetent children and adolescents caused by viral reactivation in the years following varicella vaccination.Reviews in medical virology · 2024Pooled it
- Varicella-Zoster virus reactivation following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccination or infection: New insights.European journal of internal medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of herpes zoster at a tertiary care center compared to population-based data: a ten-year retrospective cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- The Association Between COVID-19 and Herpes Zoster in Adult Populations: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- Article
- Varicella-zoster Virus Reactivation with Severe Pneumonia Following Convalescence from Coronavirus Disease: A Case Report and Literature Review.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2025Review
- No Genetic Causal Relationship between COVID-19 and Herpes Zoster: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Analysis.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- Article
- No Causal Effect of COVID-19 on Varicella-Zoster Infection, Herpes Zoster Progression, and Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2024Article
- Unraveling Herpes Zoster Vaccine Hesitancy, Acceptance, and Its Predictors: Insights From a Scoping Review.Public health reviews · 2024Article
- Progressive shingles in a toddler due to reactivation of Varicella Zoster vaccine virus four days after infection with SARS-CoV-2; a case report.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Ramsay Hunt Syndrome in Asymptomatic COVID-19 Infection: A Case Report and a Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Herpes Zoster Burden of Disease and Clinical Management in Turkey: A Comprehensive Literature Review.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2023Review
- Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and viral keratouveitis - unraveling the mystery.Indian journal of ophthalmology · 2023Article
- Etiopathogenic theories about long COVID.World journal of virology · 2023Review
- Article
- Systematic Literature Review of Herpes Zoster Disease Burden in Southeast Asia.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2023Review
- [Intertwined long COVID theories to explain its etiopathogenesis].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2023Article
- COVID-19 and Related Vaccinations in Children: Pathogenic Aspects of Oral Lesions.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Herpes zoster in children during the COVID-19 pandemic in France: A retrospective multicenter observational study.Annales de dermatologie et de venereologie · 2023Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Skin manifestations of COVID-19 vary, among which herpes zoster has recently been found to be associated with the infection. We studied the available literature regarding COVID-19-associated herpes zoster (HZ). We searched the PubMed and Scopus databases for available literature till 20th of May 2021 using the following terms: 'Herpes zoster' or 'Varicella zoster virus' and "COVID-19" or "coronavirus disease" or "SARS-CoV-2". This search revealed 87 publications, of which 29 articles met the inclusion criteria. A total of 29 patients had HZ associated with COVID-19 infection. The patients' ages ranged from 7 to 82 years, averaging 56 years. Thirteen patients (45%) were men and 16 (55%) women. We summarized the demographic data, clinical data, comorbidities, treatment used, lymphocyte count, and distribution and timeline of HZ rash in COVID patients. Lymphopenia was prevalent in 86.6% of patients (where lymphocyte data were available). We discuss possible causes of HZ due to COVID-19. More and larger studies are needed to confirm any relationship between these two infections; however, this study may pave the way for similar studies on this topic.
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Registered trials
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.