J Korean Med Sci.  2014 Dec;29(12):1706-1710. 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.12.1706.

Population-Based Study of the Epidemiology of Herpes Zoster in Korea

• Kim YJ
• Lee CN
• Lim CY
• Jeon WS
• Park YM

• KMID: 2069963
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.12.1706

Abstract

General epidemiological data regarding herpes zoster (HZ) are necessary for treatment and prevention of this disease. In addition, epidemiological data can play an important role in evaluating the efficacy and impact of vaccination. Though several epidemiological studies of HZ in Korea have been conducted, they usually depend on hospital-based data and may not be representative of HZ characteristics all over Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and other epidemiological features of HZ in the general Korean population. We used population-based medical records from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, which includes 50,908,646 medical insurance subscribers, to calculate the incidence of HZ. Also, we analyzed an age-stratified random sample of 1,375,842 individuals to study descriptive epidemiologic characteristics of HZ in Korea in 2011. We observed that the incidence of HZ was 10.4 per 1,000 person-years and was strongly correlated with age. Sex had a major influence on HZ incidence; overall, there were 12.6 cases per 1,000 person years in women and 8.3 cases per 1,000 person years in men. There was no difference in incidence according to the locality and season.

Keyword

Herpes zoster; Epidemiology; Population-Based Study; Korea

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Distribution
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Herpes Zoster/*diagnosis/*epidemiology
Hospitalization/*statistics & numerical data
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Risk Factors
Seasons
Sex Distribution
Young Adult

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Age-adjusted incidence of herpes zoster according to sex.

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  Fig. 2 Number of cases and relative incidence of herpes zoster by province. Relative incidence was calculated based on the national population and house census undertaken in 2011.

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  Fig. 3 Number of patients herpes zoster. (A) Monthly occurrence. (B) Seasonal occurrence.

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  Fig. 4 Usage of medical institutions according to the age.

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