Asthma Increases Shingles Risk by 70%

Asthma is often unrecognized as a risk factor for herpes zoster (shingles), and adults over 50 with asthma should potentially be vaccinated against the disease, according to a recent study.

Previous research has demonstrated an association between childhood asthma and the risk of shingles, but whether this association persists in adults with asthma is unknown.
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To further examine this issue, researchers conducted a population-based case-control study of adults 50 years or older in Minnesota. Overall, researchers identified 371 cases of zoster and 742 matched control participants.

Of the zoster cases, 23% (87) had a history of asthma compared with 15% (114) of controls. After controlling for covariates and confounders, researchers observed a significant association between a history of asthma and the risk of zoster (adjusted odds ratio, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.20-2.42; P = .003).

“Asthma is an unrecognized risk factor for zoster in adults. Consideration should be given to immunizing adults with asthma aged more than 50 years as a target group.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Kwon HJ, Bang DW, Kim EN, et al. Asthma as a risk factor for zoster in adults: A population-based case-control study. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2015 December 28 [epub ahead of print]. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2015.10.032.