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Updated: Dec 26, 2025
A Primary Neuron Culture System for the Study of Herpes Simplex Virus Latency and Reactivation
Published on: April 2, 2012
Seasonality of herpes zoster and herpes zoster ophthalmicus
Elyse J Berlinberg1, Eric Kim1, Michael S Deiner2
1Francis I. Proctor Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Background:
Herpes zoster (HZ) and herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) are common and debilitating diseases. There is no consensus in the literature whether HZ and HZO exhibit seasonal patterns.
Objectives:
To determine whether HZ and HZO are seasonal.
Study Design:
All patients in the OptumLabs® Data Warehouse (OLDW), a longitudinal, insurance claims database with de-identified lives between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2017 with 365 days or more of continuous enrollment were considered in the study. The database was queried for patients reporting a new ICD-9/ICD-10 code for HZ or HZO and monthly counts of each administrative code were modeled using Morelet wavelets and analyzed for annual periodicity using Fisher's g test.
Results:
There were a total of 513,911 new cases of HZ during this time period; 40,166 cases (7.8 %) were reported as HZO. Administrative coding for new cases of HZ exhibited annual periodicity (P < .001) with a peak in the summer. No periodicity was evident for HZO.
Conclusions:
These results contribute to a growing body of evidence suggesting that HZ may be seasonal and help characterize the epidemiology of this common, painful disease.
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