Systematic review of incidence and complications of herpes zoster: towards a global perspective

The objective of this study was to characterise the incidence rates of herpes zoster (HZ), also known as shingles, and risk of complications across the world.

We systematically reviewed studies examining the incidence rates of HZ, temporal trends of HZ, the risk of complications including postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) and HZ-associated hospitalisation and mortality rates in the general population. The literature search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE and the WHO library up to December 2013.