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Viruses Jul 2023Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) is a pathogenic human alpha herpes virus that causes varicella (chicken pox) as a primary infection and, following a variable period of... (Review)
Review
Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) is a pathogenic human alpha herpes virus that causes varicella (chicken pox) as a primary infection and, following a variable period of latency in different ganglionic neurons, it reactivates to produce herpes zoster (shingles). The focus of this review is on the wide spectrum of the possible neurological manifestations of VZV reactivation. While the most frequent reactivation syndrome is herpes zoster, this may be followed by the serious and painful post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) and by many other neurological conditions. Prominent among these conditions is a VZV vasculopathy, but the role of VZV in causing giant cell arteritis (GCA) is currently controversial. VZV reactivation can also cause segmental motor weakness, myelitis, cranial nerve syndromes, Guillain-Barre syndrome, meningoencephalitis, and zoster sine herpete, where a neurological syndrome occurs in the absence of the zoster rash. The field is complicated by the relatively few cases of neurological complications described and by the issue of causation when a neurological condition is not manifest at the same time as the zoster rash.
Topics: Humans; Herpesvirus 3, Human; Herpes Zoster; Chickenpox; Neuralgia, Postherpetic; Alphavirus; Exanthema
PubMed: 37632006
DOI: 10.3390/v15081663 -
Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics Dec 2023The objective of this study was to critically review the cost-effectiveness (CE) of the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) against herpes zoster (HZ). A literature review... (Review)
Review
The objective of this study was to critically review the cost-effectiveness (CE) of the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) against herpes zoster (HZ). A literature review was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane between January 1, 2017, and February 28, 2022, and on select public healthcare agency websites to identify and collect data from CE studies comparing RZV to zoster vaccine live (ZVL) or to no vaccination. Study characteristics, inputs, and outputs were collected. The overall CE of RZV was assessed. RZV vaccination against HZ is cost-effective in 15 out of 18 studies included in the present review. Varying incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) observed may be associated with different assumptions on the duration of protection of RZV, as well as different combinations of structural and disease-related study (model) inputs driving the estimation of ICERs.
Topics: Humans; Herpes Zoster Vaccine; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Herpes Zoster; Herpesvirus 3, Human; Vaccination; Vaccines, Synthetic; Neuralgia, Postherpetic
PubMed: 36916240
DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2168952