The following is a summary of “Herpes Zoster in Hospitalized Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease,” published in the November 2023 issue of Gastroenterology by Vinsard, et al.

Studies have shown that people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are more likely to get herpes zoster (HZ). The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices most recently suggested that people ages 19 and up who are more likely to get shingles because of their disease or drug-related immunosuppression get the HZ vaccine. For a study, researchers sought to find out how common HZ was among hospitalized IBD patients and to provide scientific proof for a good age cut-off for vaccines.

A cross-sectional study of a population using the 2014 US National Inpatient Sample (NIS). Researchers looked at how often and what kind of people with IBD were brought to the hospital with an HZ diagnosis. They did an age-stratification study and compared the different age groups with inpatients who did not have IBD but did have an HZ diagnosis. Out of 307,260 IBD releases, 1,110 (0.35%) patients were found to have HZ. These patients had shingles 63% of the time, post-herpetic neuralgia 26% of the time, HZ affecting the eyes 7% of the time, and HZ affecting the nervous system 4% of the time. It was more likely for women than men with IBD to have shingles (P=0.002) and post-herpetic neuralgia (P=0.001). 

Age groups with shingles in IBD inpatients were 18 to 39 years old (13%), 40 to 49 years old (19%), 50 to 59 years old (18%), and 60 to 99 years old (50%). Age groups without IBD inpatients were 18 to 39 years old (8%), 40 to 49 years old (6%), 50 to 59 years old (14%), and 60 to 99 years old (72%). It was found that hospitalized patients with IBD were more likely to get shingles at younger ages than hospitalized patients without IBD. Shingles were more common in women than men, and the number of cases slowly rose with age, though 32% of cases were seen in people younger than 50.

Source: journals.lww.com/jcge/abstract/2023/11000/herpes_zoster_in_hospitalized_patients_with.11.aspx