Increasing hospitalisation of patients with herpes zoster ophthalmicus-an interdisciplinary retrospective analysis

The occurrence of herpes zoster is rising globally. Future trends will be influenced by changes in population demographics and the growing number of patients at risk. Overall this poses a challenge for healthcare systems.

In our interdisciplinary, single-centre retrospective analysis, we aimed to assess the burden of the disease within the Department of Dermatology and the Eye Centre from the Medical Centre, University of Freiburg from 2009-2022. We obtained data from 3034 cases coded using the ICD-10 B02.x. Patients were characterised by sex, age, year of treatment, and type of treatment (inpatient vs. outpatient).

Overall we observed a 200% increase in the number of herpes zoster patients over the 13-year period. Upon closer analysis, this was mainly due to a rise in inpatient treatment for herpes zoster ophthalmicus.

If the incidence of herpes zoster ophthalmicus continues to increase at the current rate the number of hospitalisations of zoster ophthalmicus would double by 2040, assuming guideline-appropriate treatment. Overall, the results show a growing need for inpatient ophthalmological care.